Thread: Over the HUDSON, isn't there ATC radar for VFR aircraft? - Yahoo! Answers

and isn't this recent mid air collision a damn proven point that even the lighter aircraft should be equipped with TCAS? I'm not surprised this accident occurred. That corridor over the Hudson is a damn nightmare for VFR a/c.

Flight Following is available but not usually mandatory. It is an extremely heavily traveled corridor. I believe I read were there were over 88,000 helo flights from the local area heliports last year. Figure in all the fixed wing traffic and you have a mess. It's amazing more don't crash into each other.

It's pretty much a free for all. No ATC or anything other than a common traffic frequency that everyone uses. I guess you could request flight following, however, New York ATC is so busy that they probably won't have time to handle you. I've done that flight many times. I'm surprised midairs don't happen more often there. When I was a young and stupid flight instructor, I didn't care. I was...

It's a VFR corridor... the vast majority of the airspace in this country is uncontrolled below 18,000 feet. While the concentration of aircraft is more dense in NYC, by eliminating the that corridor, it would limit GA activity. TCAS is an extremely expensive system that is not needed by the majority of slow moving aircraft, and the whole proven point is this: While operating under Visual Flight Rules, the pilot in command's...

This recent accident actually proves the safety of the system. When you consider the number of aircraft flying under VFR in that tiny corridor, day in and day out, and then realize that this is the first midair they've had, it makes it clear just how carefully and safely the corridor is used. If it were cars there instead of airplanes and helicopters, the Hudson would be awash in scrap metal, and red with blood. The fact that it...

Yes, but the colliding aircraft were in an VFR corridor. VFR corridors work very well, they normally keep aircraft quite safe, this isn't any different than a collision on a reasonably busy highway. They happen.

Well, I haven't flown for many years but as far as I know there is a VFR corridor up to 850 feet along the Hudson that is excluded from the Terminal Control Area. The problem is mostly the popularity of sightseeing helicopters in this highly congested area. Many fixed wing pilots use this corridor when traveresing the area to avoid the hassle of the TCA. The general aviation pilots and the TCA controllers prefer it that way. It has...

they were both too low to be on radar. ATC says that the piper went below the radar. airplanes have no business being at 500 feet.