August 9, 2013, 5:07 a.m. ET
By ANDY PASZTOR
The Wall Street Journal
A
Canadian investigation into a 2012 midair collision between two small
U.S. planes is challenging long-standing safety procedures relied on by
generations of private pilots.
After two private planes flown by
federal aviation officials collided over northern Virginia last year,
the U.S. government called in Canadian experts to conduct an impartial
investigation. Canada's Transportation Safety Board released its
findings on Thursday, which could have broad implications because the
report concludes air-traffic controllers may have to assume a greater
role in protecting flights of small planes flying under visual flight
rules in busy airspace.
The fatal May 2012 accident involved a
Beechcraft Bonanza, piloted by an employee of the U.S. National
Transportation Safety Board, which collided with a Piper PA-28 flown by a
Federal Aviation Administration employee. Occurring in good weather at
1,800 feet, the Beechcraft broke up in flight and both people aboard
died. The other pilot managed to land in a pasture near a Warrenton,
Va., airport and survived.
Both planes were operating under
visual flight rules, which make pilots responsible for avoiding midair
collisions by requiring them to look out for nearby planes. "This
accident shows once again," according to the Canadian experts, "that the
see-and-avoid principle is inadequate for preventing collisions between
aircraft flying under visual flight rules." The report suggests that
relying entirely on such safeguards may be particularly problematic in
crowded urban or suburban airspace near airports.
Investigators
concluded that "meaningful improvement" to traditional see-and-avoid
rules may require installation of new onboard safety technology or
increased intervention by air-traffic controllers.
Currently,
small private planes referred to as general aviation aircraft aren't
obligated to carry automated airborne collision-avoidance technology
mandated for all airliners. At the same time, pilots of such private
planes flying under visual flight rules frequently aren't required to be
in contact with any controllers on the ground.
In the Warrenton
accident, the probe found that both planes were operating in accordance
with applicable federal safety rules. But investigators couldn't
determine precisely why the pilots failed to spot each other, or whether
they were on the same air-traffic control radio frequency. Warrenton is
a Washington, D.C., suburb that has traffic overhead from Dulles
International Airport and other, smaller fields.
The Piper's
pilot was in radio contact with a controller, whose screen showed an
alert about a potential conflict between the flight paths of the two
aircraft. At that point, according to the report, the planes were still
nearly a mile apart and separated by the required minimum of 500 feet
vertically.
The controller "assessed there was no conflict" or
imminent collision threat, according to the report, and returned to
ensuring separation of other aircraft flying under instrument flight
rules that were deemed to be a higher priority. Controllers have primary
responsibility to keep planes apart under instrument flight rules.
About
45 seconds after the alert sounded, the controller refocused attention
on the potential conflict between the two small planes and warned the
Piper's pilot about nearby traffic, according to the report. But by
then, the planes already had collided.
The report emphasizes that
the "see-and-avoid concept misleads pilots and controllers by
encouraging overconfidence in visual scanning." It also concludes that
"a number of viable and economical (onboard) alerting systems exist or
are under development" to reduce the risk of midair collisions.
In
addition to the option of installing new onboard technology, Canadian
experts said enhanced safety initiatives include requiring controllers
to begin issuing warnings or alerts to pilots "in all conflict
situations."
Source: http://online.wsj.com
NTSB Identification: ERA12RA367A
Accident occurred Monday, May 28, 2012 in Sumerduck, VA
Aircraft: BEECH V35B, registration: N6658R
Injuries: 2 Fatal,1 Serious.
NTSB Identification: ERA12RA367B
Accident occurred Monday, May 28, 2012 in Sumerduck, VA
Aircraft: PIPER PA-28-140, registration: N23SC
Injuries: 2 Fatal,1 Serious.
This
is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors.
The foreign authority was the source of this information.
On May
28, 2012, about 1604 eastern daylight time, a Beech V35B, N6658R, and a
Piper PA-28-140, N23SC, collided in flight in the vicinity of Sumerduck,
Virginia. The Beech was destroyed, and the pilot and flight instructor
were fatally injured; the Piper was substantially damaged, and the pilot
was seriously injured. Neither of the local flights was operating on a
flight plan, and both were being conducted under the provisions of 14
Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Day visual meteorological
conditions prevailed. The Beech departed Warrenton-Fauquier Airport,
Warrenton, Virginia, on a flight review for the private pilot, and the
Piper departed Culpeper Regional Airport, Culpeper, Virginia, on a
personal flight.
The pilot/owner of the Beech was an employee of
the NTSB, and the pilot/owner of the Piper was an employee of the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Under the provisions of Annex 13
to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and by mutual
agreement, the United States delegated the accident investigation to the
government of Canada. The NTSB designated an accredited representative
to the investigation on behalf of the United States, and the FAA
designated an advisor to the accredited representative.
The
investigation is being conducted by the Transportation Safety Board of
Canada under its statutes. Further information may be obtained from:
Transportation Safety Board of Canada
Place du Centre
200 Promenade du Portage, 4th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 1K8
Tel: 1 (800) 387-3557
Fax: 1 (819) 997-2239
Email: airops@tsb.gc.ca
Web: http://www.tsb.gc.ca
Occurrence Number: A12H0001
This
report is for informational purposes only, and only contains
information released by or provided to the government of Canada.