NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System
Air Carrier flight crew reported receiving a TCAS RA departing PHX when they passed 400 feet below a light aircraft.
What is ASRS?
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.
Pilot narratives
Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the
reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time);
anonymization placeholders are ZZZ,
X, Y.
Reporter 1
On climbout from PHX on the ZEPER 2 SID, we were directed by Phoenix Departure to climb and maintain 9,000 ft. A couple minutes after reaching this altitude, Departure called traffic at our 12 o'clock, 5 NM, and 500 ft. above. At approximately 1.5 NM from the traffic, I observed a small airplane 500 ft. above us, heading the same direction (northwest) and called “Visual” to the PF (Pilot Flying). At that point, our aircraft displayed a Traffic Advisory (TA) on the PFD (Primary Flight Display) with an audible “Traffic” call. Shortly thereafter, a Resolution Advisory (RA) was displayed along with “do not climb” symbology, which I brought to the PF's attention. He maintained current altitude and we quickly overtook the light airplane overhead. Shortly after passing by, I notified Phoenix Departure we received a TCAS RA and did not have to execute any evasive maneuvers. From this point forward, our flight proceeded normally, without incident, and we debriefed the event once established at cruise altitude.
Reporter 2
We were level at 9,000 feet on the ZEPER2 departure from PHX. ATC reported traffic ahead at 9500 feet same direction directly above us. We reported traffic in sight. On our altitude display the traffic was showing 400 feet above us. As we passed under the traffic we got a TCAS RA monitor vertical speed. We complied with the RA and notified ATC.
NASA classification — Anomalies
- ATC Issue
- Conflict
NASA classification — Assessments
- Contributing Factors / Situations
- Procedure
- Primary Problem
- Procedure
ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.