Pilots Bear Responsibility For Avoiding Midair Collisions: FAA

In an updated advisory circular, the agency stresses the importance of pilots’ eyes over ADS-B and other traffic awareness systems.

Jonathan Welsh

Thursday, November 03, 2022 at 09:23 AM ET

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The FAA wants pilots to be more aware of the traffic and more active in preventing mid-air collisions. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA updated an advisory circular (AC 90-48E) to re-emphasize pilots' fundamental responsibility for "see and avoid" practices to prevent mid-air collisions.
The AC aims to improve pilots' effectiveness in spotting traffic by addressing human factors, enhancing education, operating practices, and scanning techniques, citing the 2019 Alaska mid-air collision as a notable example.
It stresses that despite advanced collision avoidance technology, the human eye and active, methodical visual scanning remain the foundational element of collision avoidance, warning against complacency from relying solely on electronic systems.

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The FAA updated an advisory circular to emphasize pilots’ responsibility to see and avoid other aircraft in order to prevent mid-air collisions. To help make its point more forcefully, the agency cited a particularly notable 2019 mid-air crash in Alaska.

The FAA said the new AC, which supersedes one released in 2016, and follows numerous fatal accidents in which aircraft collided in flight, is meant to help pilots increase their effectiveness in spotting traffic and responding properly.