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> A plane and helicopter over DC came within 500' ... They avoided collision because they were over 1000' and the TCAS was still active

That's not an example of why air travel is dangerous, that's an example of why air travel is safe.

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The Aviation safety industry considers near-misses as an indicator of danger, and worth reviewing. A near-miss followed by a crash is maximally damning of the system.

There is a single failsafe which barely worked when the event was above 1000'. Under 1000' TCAS is automatically shut off. The flightpaths in the area of the airport are all significantly below 1000'. There are zero protections there except for the awareness of the pilots.

TCAS RAs are disabled below 1000 feet, TAs are still enabled

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