Originally Posted by letiole
From the NYTimes:
Very frequently, planes are allowed to fly at the "wrong" altitude for a variety of reasons. I flew all across Canada at the "wrong" altitude recently. We changed when we started getting to a more congested area. I know controllers who use the "wrong" altitudes frequently. The flight plan doesn't really matter either. What matters is what altitude ATC told the plane to be at.
I am curious if they only had primary radar on the private plane and the transponder was turned off. If the controllers saw the altitudes on both planes and saw them coming together, surely they could have (would have) issued directions to the 737, even if not in radio contact with the other plane.
This is just curiosity, speculation and things my ATC husband and I were wondering about over breakfast today. It will be interesting to find out what the tapes reveal.
The Legacy was not allowed to change its altitude as the 737 was on this level.
The transponder of the Legacy was off.
They did not answer the
seven calls from the controllers, since they "desappeared" in the radar. The seven calls are recorded in the Control and in the Legacy tapes.
Seven calls and none response.