A chilling near-miss incident involving two passenger jets in Houston has sparked a crucial conversation about aviation safety. Imagine this: two planes, one from Volaris El Salvador and the other from United Express, taking off simultaneously from Houston Intercontinental Airport, with a potential collision course ahead.
On December 18, as the Volaris Airbus A320neo and the United Express Embraer ERJ-145 departed, a simple miscommunication led to a terrifying scenario. The Volaris jet, despite being cleared for a left turn, made a right turn instead, directly into the path of the United Express aircraft.
A Geometry Problem in the Skies
This is where the story gets intriguing, and a bit controversial. The safety protocol for parallel departures relies on immediate divergence, but a single wrong turn can unravel everything. The Volaris pilot's readback was correct, but the monitoring system failed, allowing the jet to turn in the wrong direction.
Collision alerts were triggered, and the United Express crew reported a TCAS Resolution Advisory, indicating a potentially dangerous situation. The planes were closing in on each other rapidly, and at such a low altitude, a collision could have been catastrophic.
The Confusing Turn
Here's the part most people might miss: the instruction to turn left heading 110 after takeoff from a 330-degree runway heading is not intuitive. Many autopilots would execute a right turn to capture that heading, which is the shortest turn. This mismatch between the instruction and the autopilot's behavior is a critical factor.
While it's not an excuse, a non-intuitive turn like this requires absolute clarity in the clearance. Houston, being a busy hub for United Airlines, often issues long-way-around vectors, and there are several approaches to ensure safety.
Proposed Solutions
- Avoid issuing turns greater than 180 degrees during parallel departures. A two-step turn, first to 200 degrees and then to the final heading, could prevent confusion.
- Use clear and standardized phraseology: "Turn left, the long way around, heading 110."
- Implement published RNAV SID procedures for unusual vectors, reducing reliance on voice instructions during high-workload phases.
United pilots, being familiar with Houston's procedures, might be less likely to make such errors. However, for pilots from Volaris El Salvador, this could be a challenging scenario.
This incident highlights the importance of clear communication and standardized procedures in aviation. With lives at stake, every detail matters.
What's your take on this? Do you think these proposed solutions could prevent similar incidents in the future? Feel free to share your thoughts and insights in the comments below!
