Mike, TCAS is actually incapable of "causing" an accident. Pilots do that !
However, incorrect use of TCAS can cause an accident. TCAS requires BOTH pilots to do what TCAS directs for the desired outcome to be provided. If ONE does something different, then an accident can (AND HAS) occur. I'm sure the pilots you asked MUST be aware of the mid air over Germany / Switzerland in 2002. Now Flarm is different to TCAS is a very important aspect, and I hope this never changes. FLARM warns about proximity and collision risk. It does not DIRECT pilots on what to do. Doing so could be very dangerous - It would require both pilots to do exactly as directed, something I really doubt would happen in practice, and also presumes no other aircraft in in close proximity, again something that will exists. At mid-air from Benalla this year, there were 3 other gliders very close. On 2/2/07 7:57 AM, "Mike Borgelt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > At 09:18 PM 1/02/2007, you wrote: >> To put it simply, it sounds similar to the incident at Benalla. I >> had someone to my left and behind at about the same altitude. Even >> though the red light would have been on I don't remember seeing >> it. I guess I had my eye's outside of the cockpit. Anyway I looked >> left to do a 180. With no traffic sighted I started a sharp >> turn. Straight away the alarm sounded so I immediatly straightened >> up and saw the red light. I did a turn to the right and then left >> to find the other glider only to see it behind and close. >> >> Was it a close call maybe..........maybe not, but I'm glad Flarm >> stopped the situation before I got to find out. >> >> Chad Nowak > > Chad, > > Thank you for that. Obviously the other glider was FLARM equipped. > Did you talk to the pilot later? If so what was his take on the > situation? Did he think there was a bad situation at any time? > > From your description of your manouevers I'd expect a glider behind > would have caught up somewhat by the time you completed them. > > BTW I asked two pilots with lots of experience flying "in the system" > and they aren't aware of any TCAS caused accidents. > > Mike > Borgelt Instruments - manufacturers of quality soaring instruments > phone Int'l + 61 746 355784 > fax Int'l + 61 746 358796 > cellphone Int'l + 61 428 355784 > Int'l + 61 429 355784 > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > website: www.borgeltinstruments.com > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
