Description

For TCAS II systems to work as designed and to resolve a risk of mid-air collision, immediate and correct flight crew response to TCAS resolution advisories (RA) is essential.

TCAS has been deployed to act as a last resort safety net to mitigate the risk of midair collisions by providing flight crews with collision avoidance advice.

IATA/EUROCONTROL Guidance Material

IATA and EUROCONTROL have jointly produced guidance on the assessment of pilot compliance to Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) RAs using Flight Data Monitoring (FDM). This document highlights that the most important single factor affecting the performance of TCAS is the response of pilots to RAs. The Guidance Material, which is based on the ICAO provisions, recommends that operators establish procedures detailing how their flight crews should operate TCAS and respond to RAs.

The document provides general guidance on the assessment of pilot responses to TCAS RAs and contains a set of indicators and measurements to support such assessment. Third edition of the Guidance Material introduces two methods of the assessment of pilot responses to TCAS RAs and provides a tool to score the responses using both methods.

Related Articles

• ACAS Training
• RTF Phraseology associated with TCAS RAs
• ATC Avoiding Instructions Opposite to TCAS RA
• TCAS RA Not Followed

SKYclip: "Always Follow the RA"

Further Reading

• Guidance Material: Performance assessment of pilot compliance with Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) advisories using Flight Data Monitoring (FDM), IATA and EUROCONTROL, 3rd Edition, January 2022 (note: downlink from IATA website, file size 99 MB).
• Assessment of Pilot Compliance with TCAS RAs, TCAS Mode Selection and Serviceability Using ATC Radar Data, EUROCONTROL, 2nd ed., 10 February 2022.
• Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) - Selected Statistical and Performance Data in Core European Space, EUROCONTROL, 9 April 2021.
• HindSight 31 - Assessment of pilot compliance with TCAS RA
• The full collection of EUROCONTROL ACAS Bulletins