Evolution of Love 2

B-52 Stratofortress

When news paper screams of near misses , it is definitely not the way it is projected. Enjoy this old story ,it will refresh memories of seniors and Youngsters are definitely going to enjoy it. Of Course you will also know about B-52 Stratofortress .

[TCAS- Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System]
TCAS encounter With B-52 Stratofortress*

I had a TCAS encounter with a B 52, and I have never seen a Bigger SOB. My story for you,

I thought I would share an encounter I had with a B-52 while flying a B744 from Mumbai to Paris. I am sharing this event because it reinforces the effect of following SOPs and the value of Sim Trg. This is my account of the event.

We had got airborne from Mumbai at dawn just as the sun was beginning to lighten the Eastern horizon. The load was 470 persons on board including infants and crew. The co pilot had been sent back for rest in the bunk, since he had become a new Dad and we urged him to take the first slot to sleep. We are a three man crew comprising of two Commanders and one First Officer, so that at any time there would one one Commander at the controls when one went back to rest.

My Second Commander was seated on my right. It was an hour or so after take off and we were approaching the Bombay- Muscat FIR where Mumbai Radio hands us over to Muscat Radio. We were over the Arabian Sea, with water below us as far as you could see in any direction. The sun was competing in speed with us and winning in the race, having an overtake of almost our ground speed of 500 knots. We were not under positive Radar Control being too far out sea. We were in HF RT contact with Mumbai and were about to change over to Muscat Radio.

My Second Commander (Capt Rajul Bhagatwala) who was on watch, suddenly alerted, "Reciprocal Traffic, 20 miles range, same level." We both went into full alert. I peered into my Screen and sure enough there was this traffic heading towards us as indicated by the Traffic Collision Avoidance System ( TCAS ). The intruder was about 20 miles away, almost head on and closing in real fast. I called for the second commander to put on all the Ac lights and see if he could establish visual contact. I said I was going head down to monitor the 'Intruder' and take appropriate avoiding action when commanded by the TCAS computer.

At a combined crossing speed of over 1000 knots we were 60 seconds from impact. The tricky thing here is to sit down and do nothing till the TCAS computer commands you to do so. No doubt the two TCAS computers, mine and the intruder's were busy 'Talking' to each other to decide who would be controlling TCAS of the two and what the escape maneuver should be. I peered up and I could see a Qantas A 340 just above me going in the same direction and 2000 feet above. He had been there ahead of me since level out and I was overtaking him since my cruise speed was 0.86M while he was doing only 0.78M.

I got my first warning from the TCAS, "Traffic, Traffic". Now the tricky part is to not take any evasive action till the computer tells you to, and that happens in a case like this, about 30 seconds from impact. So you sit like a moth attracted to a flame, unmoving. I had already called out for no action till RA ( Resolution Advisory ) and then follow the TCAS command. Sure enough like the book, it came at around 8 miles and, 30 seconds from impact. "Descend Descend", was the call.

I disconnected the Auto Pilot and Auto Throttle and gently followed the computer command into a descent. At 4 miles, "CONTACT" was the call from the right seat. "Its has eight engines and all are smoking black." I looked up as I had achieved safe separation and I saw him flash by 1 O'clock to 7 O'clock all eight engines spewing black smoke. "B-52" I called out. Our vertical separation as we crossed was 400 feet on the TCAS. It was just the 'Boys' going back to Diego Garcia after having bombed the Tora Bora hills in East Afghanistan on a round trip. He must have had us on his Mil radar but turned on his civil TCAS only around 20 miles to warn us on TCAS. His computer must be programmed to make the other guy take avoiding action as far as possible. He was at the wrong height for his track which was 160 Degrees or so and we were on a track of 330, hence the conflict of flight paths. But that is the advantage of being the only Super Power in the World.

Back in the cabin they had just finished the Breakfast Service and were serving Tea and coffee when we had this RA. I called to find out the cabin status. The In Flight Supervisor came up to the fight deck and said that no one had felt a thing and not a drop of tea or coffee had been spilled. I am not saying this to give myself a pat on the back for smooth flying, but to emphasize that when the Breaking News screams, "250 passengers had a miraculous escape when two Ac had a near miss", it is over sensationalizing a controlled situation, though such a situation should not have happened. In closing, the TCAS gives you a command which needs a max of 2g to respond. So There is no panic, only self discipline required.

You can't fool a pilot though. There were two pilots below in the cabin traveling as passengers who immediately felt the Auto Pilot going off , felt a few degrees of bank come on and the Ac descending. They came up to the cockpit a few minutes later to ask if the Auto Pilot had tripped.

Lessons learned

1. Similar TCAS drills are part of Routine training for all of us. If it works in the Sim it will work 100% in real threat situations.

2. SOPs for such events are laid down and if followed meticulously, it works.

3. Knowledge of the Ac systems involved, coupled with the SOPs provides the required margin of safety and clear cut decision making

4. No sense of fear or apprehension, since you know what to do. No confusion whatsoever.

In this situation, both Capt Bhagatwalla and I were crystal clear on what to do. There was no fear or panic. Voices were cool, calm and collected. There was no sense of fear what so ever only the supreme confidence of what action was required. All these drills had been done a hundred times on the Sim. If it had worked there it would work now, and it did.

In closing I leave this message for you, we survived that day only because the SOPs and Sim training had assured us that if followed we would survive.
It gave us the confidence to do so. We did it and survived; so will you. My apologies if I was long winded.

PS Since then I have always had a healthy respect for a B 52 and i sure do not want to get closer than that in the air.

*18 Things You Never Knew About The B-52 Stratofortress*

It's big. It's ugly. And it's one of the most adaptable aircraft flown in the past 60 years.

1) The B-52's first flight was April 15, 1952 - over 69 years ago.

2) The B-52 was designed to carry nuclear weapons during the Cold War, but it has only carried conventional ordnance in combat.

3) There were huge leaps in aviation happening when the B-52 was being designed, and it went through 6 major redesigns during the 5 year design period. The YB-52 pictured below was the second-to-last major redesign.

4) A B-52A was used to carry the North American X-15. The X-15 achieved the record for fastest manned powered aircraft, with a speed of Mach 6.72.

5) There have been 744 B-52s built, but currently there are only 85 in active service, with 9 in reserve.

6) The B-52 can carry up to 70,000 pounds of ordnance, or the equivalent of 30 fully-loaded Cessna 172s.

7) Production ended in 1962, which means the youngest B-52 is 59 years old.

8) The jet has a unique ejection system; the lower deck crew eject downward.

9) The B-52 is expected to serve until the 2040s. That's over 90 years of service.

10) In 1964, a B-52 configured as a testbed to investigate structural failures flew through severe turbulence, shearing off its vertical stabilizer. The aircraft was able to continue flying, and landed safely.

11) The navigator and radar navigator sit in the lower deck of the aircraft. These are the two seats that eject downward.

12) To comply with the SALT II Treaty requirements, cruise missile-capable aircraft had to be identifiable by spy satellites. To comply, the B-52 "G" models were modified with a curved wing root fairing.

13) Early models had cabin temperature problems; the upper-deck would get hot, because it was heated by the sun, while the navigation crew would sit on the cold fuselage floor.

14) In 1961, a B-52G broke up in midair over Goldsboro, NC. Two nuclear bombs on board were dropped in the process, but didn't detonate. After the bombs were recovered, the Air Force found that five of the six stages of the arming sequence had been completed.

15) In 1972, B-52 tail-gunner Albert Moore shot down a MiG-21 over Vietnam. It was the last recorded bomber-gunner to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

16) After the Soviet Union fell in 1991, 365 B-52s were destroyed under the START treaty. The aircraft were stripped of usable parts, chopped into 5 pieces with a 13,000 pound steel blade, and sold for scrap at 12 cents per pound.

17) During Operation Desert Storm, B-52s delivered 40% of the weapons dropped from the air.

18) Currently, B-52s cost $70,000 per flight hour to operate. And while they might be ugly, they're still a pretty amazing and adaptable aircraft.

As of June 2019, 58 are in service, 18 in reserve, and about 12 in long-term storage