2d ago

Southwest flight descends 475 feet to avoid 'midair collision' with Hawker Hunter

abcnews.go.com

15 comments

That’s the second time in less than a week! https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/delta-airlines-skywest-collision-north-dakota-b2792725.html
What on earth is going on with USAF ATC this week?
- There was a near mid-air collision at LAX today at around 11AM.
  There is a severe shortage of ATC in the US. Remember when Reagan fired all the striking ATCs in the 1980s and replaced them with new ones? The new ones are all retiring and there are not enough replacements which means that the remaining ones are all overworked and exhausted.
  
  Does this mean someone could theoretically fly a plane unimpeded to a location that could fix a ton of political problems in sonic the hedgehog?
- AI traffic control trying to kill us. But, the lawsuit is cheaper than employing people.
I had that happen in a 747 once. Your stomach just flips. Not something you expect on such large plane. The pilot said it was a "tea cast" maneuver to avoid a head on collision. He said the other plane was a half a mile ahead, which seemed like a long ways until I realized both planes were probably doing 600mph or something like that.
- It's TCAS. The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System is an airborne system that helps pilots avoid mid-air collisions. It works independently of ground-based equipment by monitoring nearby aircraft with transponders and issuing advisories to pilots.
  It basically negotiates between two planes and gives them opposing directions automatically so the pilots don't "avoid" each other by going the same direction.
  
  Two planes dancing in a doorway unable to pass each other.
Hawker Hunter?! That's a British military jet from the 40s. Is there another kind? Am I taking crazy pills?
- Several Hawker Hunters, actually. I didn't know so many were even active
- hopefully that bump smooshed his brain worms
  
  Crackhead Columbo, I call ‘em
Who the hell is hawker hunter and why is he so tall?
- Hunter Biden's alter-ego. It's all documented on his laptop, he's actually got superpowers.

15 comments