Mid-air collision 5/12/2021 - Everybody walks away...

[jbhtexas]

Wow! A miracle that the Metroliner held together after the collision.

 

[wxman1]

 

[KidSilverhair]

As a former air traffic controller myself, I love it that in the midst of a mid-air collision and a Cirrus floating down under a parachute - there’s still time to broadcast a bird advisory for a hawk between the parallels.

That‘s the ATC life, baby.

Seriously, though, those Cirrus parachutes can be lifesavers, and I can picture the hubbub going on in that tower once they realized what happened. I’m also a bit surprised there was no conflict alert warning on the radar display, but I imagine that’s radically suppressed for parallel approaches like that.

 

[CascadeClone]

Wow, that's some serious frame damage there to the Metro. Lucky it didn't hit the tail.

Also lucky it was cargo not passenger.

 

[wxman1]

As a former air traffic controller myself, I love it that in the midst of a mid-air collision and a Cirrus floating down under a parachute - there’s still time to broadcast a bird advisory for a hawk between the parallels.

That‘s the ATC life, baby.

Seriously, though, those Cirrus parachutes can be lifesavers, and I can picture the hubbub going on in that tower once they realized what happened. I’m also a bit surprised there was no conflict alert warning on the radar display, but I imagine that’s radically suppressed for parallel approaches like that.

Don't forget the NOTAM for birds INVOF airport!

 

[KidSilverhair]

Don't forget the NOTAM for birds INVOF airport!

Make sure that’s on every ATIS until the end of time.

 

[wxman1]

Make sure that’s on every ATIS until the end of time.

Off topic but you may be interested in the Opposing Bases podcast.

The South Metro Fire Department has a good YouTube channel so it will be interesting to see how they show the incident from their perspective.

 

[Sousaclone]

...
The South Metro Fire Department has a good YouTube channel so it will be interesting to see how they show the incident from their perspective.

So I'm not the only one who watches that. They do a really good job putting their videos together.

 

[JM4CY]

Serious question for those less aviation knowledgeable: Can someone explain to me like I’m a 4th grader how something like this happens?

 

[KidSilverhair]

Serious question for those less aviation knowledgeable: Can someone explain to me like I’m a 4th grader how something like this happens?

Centennial Airport has parallel north/south runways. They were using them both, so aircraft were lining up on final for both. Essentially, the final approach path for parallels is like two lanes of a four-lane road, with both lanes of traffic going in the same direction.

But, aircraft have to get to that final approach path, from whatever direction they’re arriving from. The Metroliner (Lime Air, I think was the call sign) was on the final approach path for the eastern runway. The Cirrus was arriving from the west-southwest, trying to get to the final approach path for the western runway.

Apparently the Cirrus overshot the final - instead of leading the turn from flying eastbound to turning southbound, they flew across the final for the west runway into the final for the east runway. Unfortunately, the Metroliner happened to be in that exact same spot at the exact same time.

if you’re asking how a Cirrus pilot can fly into a larger, very visible aircraft on a day with good visual flight conditions, well, there’s no one obvious answer to that. Was the pilot distracted? Did he see a different aircraft and think that was the traffic he was supposed to be aware of? Was there something mechanical or weather-related that caused him to not turn in to the runway in time? I can’t say.

in practice, two final approach paths to parallel runways should keep aircraft apart (since by definition parallel lines never touch), but aircraft have to maneuver to get to those finals and there’s always a human element.

 

[Tri4Cy]

Centennial Airport has parallel north/south runways. They were using them both, so aircraft were lining up on final for both. Essentially, the final approach path for parallels is like two lanes of a four-lane road, with both lanes of traffic going in the same direction.

But, aircraft have to get to that final approach path, from whatever direction they’re arriving from. The Metroliner (Lime Air, I think was the call sign) was on the final approach path for the eastern runway. The Cirrus was arriving from the west-southwest, trying to get to the final approach path for the western runway.

Apparently the Cirrus overshot the final - instead of leading the turn from flying eastbound to turning southbound, they flew across the final for the west runway into the final for the east runway. Unfortunately, the Metroliner happened to be in that exact same spot at the exact same time.

if you’re asking how a Cirrus pilot can fly into a larger, very visible aircraft on a day with good visual flight conditions, well, there’s no one obvious answer to that. Was the pilot distracted? Did he see a different aircraft and think that was the traffic he was supposed to be aware of? Was there something mechanical or weather-related that caused him to not turn in to the runway in time? I can’t say.

in practice, two final approach paths to parallel runways should keep aircraft apart (since by definition parallel lines never touch), but aircraft have to maneuver to get to those finals and there’s always a human element.

Leading with I'm not a pilot

But when I'm riding my bike I always look at my apex or essentially where I intend to go. If the pilot was making a banking right hand turn would they not maybe target fixating on the runway and not necessarily looking forward/left for potential obstacles? Just a hunch.

 

[wxman1]

Centennial Airport has parallel north/south runways. They were using them both, so aircraft were lining up on final for both. Essentially, the final approach path for parallels is like two lanes of a four-lane road, with both lanes of traffic going in the same direction.

But, aircraft have to get to that final approach path, from whatever direction they’re arriving from. The Metroliner (Lime Air, I think was the call sign) was on the final approach path for the eastern runway. The Cirrus was arriving from the west-southwest, trying to get to the final approach path for the western runway.

Apparently the Cirrus overshot the final - instead of leading the turn from flying eastbound to turning southbound, they flew across the final for the west runway into the final for the east runway. Unfortunately, the Metroliner happened to be in that exact same spot at the exact same time.

if you’re asking how a Cirrus pilot can fly into a larger, very visible aircraft on a day with good visual flight conditions, well, there’s no one obvious answer to that. Was the pilot distracted? Did he see a different aircraft and think that was the traffic he was supposed to be aware of? Was there something mechanical or weather-related that caused him to not turn in to the runway in time? I can’t say.

in practice, two final approach paths to parallel runways should keep aircraft apart (since by definition parallel lines never touch), but aircraft have to maneuver to get to those finals and there’s always a human element.

I would also add that it is much harder than you think to see other aircraft in the air. Another contributing factor is the Cirrus which is a low wing aircraft was in a right hand traffic pattern (keep the airport on the right side of the plane) which meant as he was turning base to final he would have a very obstructed to no visibility to large portions of the parallel approach path.