"Traffic!" "Traffic!"
 

Saturday 2/6 about 7:40pm CO41 on final approach at SFO for 28Right.

We cross the San Mateo bridge, and the landing gear is lowered.

The plane shifts to the left and continues, seemingly on course...but maybe not.

The Southwest 737 that is at approximately the same altitude on approach for 28Left seems to be getting bigger, or should I say closer...

This continues for a minute or so..

Yes, we are getting too close...then I hear "Traffic! Traffic!" from the collision avoidance system on the flight deck.

A second later we veer to the right and back on course.

The Southwest flight seems to descend quicker as we move away from them.

Needless to say, we landed.

Anyone ever experience this before?

This is almost certainly a non-event. It's very normal to hear a "traffic" warning from TCAS when on a parallel approach like this.

This particular approach usually has quite a few turns before lining up for the runway.

Non-Event...This was no doubt a visual approach and as long as minimums were not violated.

"Traffic, Traffic!!!" is the TCAS call out for a TA:traffic advisory.
To let the pilots know that a plane is getting close, in visual conditions usually not a problem.
The next level is an RA:resolution advisory. An RA can come in various call-out: "Descend", "Climb", "Monitor Vertical Speed", to name a few. This means a collision will most probably happen if the action as directed is not taken.

Too bad this system can't be loaded onto the grocery carts at Kroger... :D

LOL!

Sounds like an event that was common with just about every flight on the MD-80 back in the day. When the pilots would pull back the throttle to idle to start their decent from cruise, the plane thought they were throttling back to land without flaps and would alert every time. They would just reach over and cancel the alarm...every time.

That's a gear horn. Completely different from a TCAS TA.

Gear horn. On the 737 for instance the horn activates anytime the flaps are selected to higher than 15` without the gear being selected down. On the MD-80/DC-9, it was generally a procedure to pull back the throttles with one hand, while the other was pressing the horn silence button (sort of like rubbing your tummy and patting your head)

The 'Traffic' call that the OP referenced is somewhat common at fields where parallel approaches are in progess....SFO, SEA, LAX, etc. Normally we deselect the TA/RA function in order to prevent these nuisance calls, as long as we are in visual conditions and can visually deconflict.

DRW

Maybe Steve Winwood was sitting in F?

Part of what my group does is to test TCAS after its installed by another group. On our aircraft, you'll hear "Traffic, Traffic" when you're 6nm away from other aircraft at your altitude. If you hear "Descend, Descend" or "Climb, Climb", you are within in 1nm and should probably be a little more concerned. There's another message telling the pilot to do it faster as you get closer.

Was it a male or female voice? It used to be a female voice on a lot of these systems and it was called the B1tchin' Betty. Of course we get a dude and we call it the B1tchin' Bob.

Of course. I was just relating a similar non-event that happens regularly (and that you can hear from the front jumpseat).

I always liked Otto the Autopilot.

It's not distance, it's time. The actual distance when a TA or RA is triggered will vary based on the closure rate.

I believe I've heard "Climb Climb" once but it was muffled. It certainly struck me at the time as that sort of electronic voice (male) and alarm sound you hear in movies/tv. It was disconcerting to say the least. Really only had time to think I realised what I heard, inhale sharply in the "oh crap" sort of manner, before the plane landed very hard in TPA.

It seemed like a normal descent/landing until that point, we had just cleared the fences/barriers/etc.. then the alarm, then a few seconds of silence and suddenly everything in the cabin bouncing as touched down very hard.

I suppose it could have been a different alarm, but it sounded like "Climb Climb" at the time.