TCAS RA at Night, and a Colleague Who Suggests Silence
You are single-pilot IFR in a pressurized twin turboprop at night in IMC, descending to 4,000 ft on an arrival into a Class C airport. Approach has passed traffic at 2 o'clock. At 4,500 ft the TCAS commands 'CLIMB, CLIMB, CLIMB' with a red arc. You disconnect the autopilot and climb at 1,800 fpm to 5,300 ft; the RA softens to 'MONITOR VERTICAL SPEED'. You call 'TCAS RA' and ATC replies 'Roger, maintain 6,000'. One minute later you report 'clear of conflict' and are re-cleared to 4,000 ft. On the ground you learn the other aircraft was a light single on a VFR transit that had entered Class C without a clearance; the estimated separation was 350 ft vertically and 0.4 NM laterally. Your aircraft carries a CVR and an FDR. The next morning the operator's SMS manager asks for your report, and a colleague suggests you 'leave the CVR alone' and keep the write-up short because the other pilot was at fault.
1. Classify the occurrence and identify who must be notified.
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Test against the definitions. It is not an accident: no fatality, no serious injury, no substantial damage, no aircraft missing. The test for a serious incident is whether the circumstances indicated a high probability of an accident; the Annex 13 list includes near collisions requiring an avoidance manoeuvre. A TCAS resolution advisory flown to 350 ft vertical and 0.4 NM lateral separation fits that description. The formal classification belongs to the investigating authority, but you do not need to wait for it: treat it as a serious incident and reportable occurrence.
Notification chain. ATC at the time - 'TCAS RA' during the manoeuvre and 'clear of conflict' on return, both of which you did. The operator's occurrence/SMS system immediately on landing. The State's accident investigation authority and the regulator within the periods the State prescribes - commonly immediate notification by the fastest means and a written report within 72 hours for an incident of this kind. Check your operations manual for the exact addressees and times; do not guess.
The other aircraft. The VFR pilot has an independent reporting duty and their own exposure for the Class C entry; that is the authority's problem, not a reason for you to file late or thin. Two reports of the same event are normal and useful.
2. What must happen to the CVR and FDR, and how do you answer the colleague?
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Preserve, do not erase. The CVR overwrites itself; after a serious incident it must not be erased, test-erased, or lost through repeated ground running. Do not pull circuit breakers or remove units unless the operations manual or the investigation authority directs it. Leave the FDR and any TCAS event data, the flight plan, your notes and the ATC clearance record intact. The investigation authority may take custody; recordings of this kind are protected and generally may be used only for the investigation of an accident or serious incident, not for disciplinary or commercial purposes.
Answering the colleague. The suggestion is wrong on two levels. Practically, erasing a protected recording is an offence in most jurisdictions and converts a safety event into a misconduct event. Culturally, 'the other pilot was at fault' is not a defence and not the point - the report exists to fix the system that allowed a VFR aircraft into Class C and a late traffic call. Just culture protects you for an honest error, not for concealment; the protection is lost the moment the account is deliberately incomplete.
What to write. The facts: times, altitudes, the RA, your calls, the response, the separation as you observed it, and anything you would do differently - for example a slower or later response to the RA, or uncertainty about the autopilot disconnect.
3. What should the safety management system do with the report, and what feedback should you expect?
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What the SMS should do. Record and classify it; risk-assess severity and likelihood; investigate the chain rather than the person - why a VFR aircraft was in Class C, why the traffic call came at 2 o'clock at short range, how quickly the RA was flown, whether the phraseology was standard. Identify which barriers worked (TCAS, the RA response, the ATC call) and which failed (airspace infringement, traffic awareness). Set actions with owners and dates: local ATC coordination, a safety bulletin on RA phraseology, refresher training, maybe a note in the aerodrome's infringement campaign.
What you should expect back. Acknowledgement, a de-identified summary of the findings, and notice of any change that affects you - that feedback loop is what makes reporting worth doing, and its absence is the usual reason pilots stop reporting.
What it must not do. Use the report to discipline you for an honest error, or let the fact that the intruder was at fault end the investigation. The SMS should also check whether the event needed a mandatory report to the authority independently of the internal system, and confirm that CVR preservation was actioned - that is an organisational duty, not the pilot's alone.