The title sounds as if you are disappointed that they don't crash more often

As a pilot, I watched to see how well you'd do. Most non-aviation sources do an absolutely horrible job whenever they try to explain TCAS or any other remotely complex aviation system (and most super-basic ones too). You did very well. Clear, concise and accurate. As expected from LMG, but I'm still impressed.

Why Don't Planes Crash Into Each Other More Often? -because they don't have Linus as pilot

Why don't birds crash into each other more often?

At any given moment, there are one million people in the air. Think about that.

As a pilot, I was pretty impressed by this video. You explained it pretty well considering how complicated it is. This stuff really saves lives. I was on a flight last month when my ADSB system said, "Traffic. 11 o'clock. Same altitude. Less than 1 mile." I never chopped and dropped faster in my life. We probably would have collided if this system didn't exist.

As a pilot, this was surprisingly correct. All of it. Well done. Throughly impressed.

fun fact, ATC has massive amounts of rules associated with controlling planes, and one of those rules is to NOT issue control instructions to aircraft responding to a TCAS (this is post accident mentioned in video) AND ATC can actually see and hear when an aircraft's TCAS goes off. There's loud and rapid "beep beep beep", and a big red "RA" next to the radar target, letting us know when a resolution advisory has been issued. pilots will usually tell us when their TCAS goes off, and 99% of the time it does go off, there's no real conflict, planes just got a little close. close, but well within separation minimums. As ATC, we are expected to keep pilots updated on any traffic that might get close, and give them information about what that traffic is doing, and that it is "no factor", so they dont panic and do something drastic and unnecessary.

You could imagine Linus presenting Air Crash Investigation.

Very accurate description, you did your homework.

"it's almost like there are airborne highways that the jets are following" You are spot-on. There pretty much are, since there are only so many airports, and generally flight routs are repeated every day between the same airports over and over. If anyone is curious, the flight levels (altitudes) are assigned in increments of 1000 ft., and different direction traffic always gets a different flight level. So, for example, a northbound flight might get flight level 270 (27,000 ft.), and a southbound flight might get flight level 280 (28,000 ft.). Another airplane in the general area going northbound would get the next one up, 290 (29,000 ft.), and so on. They alternate back and forth every flight level up. Airplanes are most efficient at certain flight levels, so they interleave the assignments to help make as many flights as most efficient as possible. When an airplane transitions from one control area to another (enters a different country for example), they will communicate the air traffic control and be assigned a new flight level, given directions as to which frequencies to use for the destination air port, and so on. Generally, air traffic control in any given area is in charge of what airplane goes where, what flight level it is on, and what clearances it gets (landing, take off, direction of travel, flight level, etc.), but the pilot in command is always responsible for his or her own airplane. If ATC gives conflicting directions, or provides directions that a given airplane is incapable of (or would be unsafe to attempt), the pilot is responsible for doing the safe thing, and coordinating with ATC to resolve the conflict. However, TCAS gets top most priority at all times. If TCAS says climb/descend at any time, the pilot is to do it immediately (within limits of safety of course). The system actually works quite well, given how many flights successfully arrive at their destination without a single safety issue. There were many crashes before ATC was implemented, and several mid air collisions (as unlikely as that sounds) before TCAS was invented and implemented.

When I saw the title, first thing I thought was, "Well, there's lots of sky, and not that many planes." Glad Linus opened with a take on this.

does TCAS overclock?

LinusAviationTips

The ADS-B systems work a bit differently from how Linus described them, even if he didn't go into much detail. ADS-B uses the plane's GPS to determine 3D location and velocity, then broadcasts that to both planes in range and ground stations (mainly mounted on cellphone towers and aimed at the sky). The ground stations relay that data not only to ATC, but to all other planes within a 15 NM radius and +/-3500 ft which broadcast an ADS-B Out signal. But there's more to it than that. ADS-B uses both 978 MHz and 1090 MHz frequency bands depending on the equipment, and the two frequencies require a ground station to allow intercommunication for a single-band equipped aircraft. Only dual-band ADS-B In equipment can directly receive from both frequencies. By 2020, all airspace in the U.S. that requires an altitude reporting transponder for every plane now will require an ADS-B Out system, which will allow many radar stations across the country to be shut down, as ATC will instead rely on GPS data that, at least in theory, is more accurate. But in order for pilots to actually make use of ADS-B's benefits like seeing other traffic and getting TCAS support, they also need an ADS-B In system, which can be separate equipment altogether and is not mandatory.

Idea for the next episodes: - What is VPS and how does it work? - What is a Web crawlers? - How does image recognition work? - How does logging in by Google, Facebook,... work? Thanks!

Airline pilot here...best explanation of TCAS I've ever seen! Nice job, Linus!

As a pilot and flight instructor I am pleasantly surprised how not shit this video is. Good job Linus and the team!

Why am I watching this? I already know this. Gotta watch techquickie though!

Unless someone beats you up and forces you out of the plane. Linus is a savage. :D

The title makes it sound like you want more planes to crash into each other.

Careful what you wish for, Linus.

Linus secretly does want them to crash.

I guess home computer related subjects are drying up.

prety good for a channel that is not aviation related.. good work!

I usually get the window seat, and I have never seen another plane out the window in my entire life. It's kinda eerie in a way... makes me feel like we're alone up there in the vastness of the clouds.

The title makes it seem like you're disappointed that they don't crash into each other more often

Cool, never thought I'd see anything aviation related here.

made me double-take that i'm not watching a Wendover productions video

as a pilot, theres a lot more to it, but really good video for the basics

Mostly correct. Most transponders don't transmit actual position but use altitude, transmit time, and directional antennas to determine position of other aircraft. There are many newer features that aircraft CAN transmit but so many are older and simpler that the modern computers can deduce a lot about another aircraft. Even just water under a directional antenna has caused intruders to bounce around on a screen. I use to certify altimeters/transponders and changed a few antennas in my day. It is all really cool stuff.

We are Vsauce now

As an aviation enthuist, I'm hurt by the fact you didn't use the official sounds for TCAS like: "Descend", "Descend Now", "Clear of Conflict", "Climb" , and "Maintain Vertical Speed"

Remember that Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) take priority over TCAS. For example under a certain altitude TCAS only does TA (Traffic advisory) and wouldn’t tell one plane to descend. Great video though

You guys must have talked to WendoverProductions about this.

Shots fired at united... Again

You teach better than my instructor (doing an aircraft maintenance engineering course)

TCAS is more like "DEE SEND DEE SEND NOW!" (Typed phonetically of course) :P

Two pieces of commercial software that most major airlines use is called WSI Fusion and Pilotbrief that allow for integration of ADSB, ASDI, and airline data for flight tracking. This also integrates weather data and various types of advisories to allow planes to avoid flying into dangerous airspace.

Hey Linus...that shirt just arrived in the mail didn't it?

It would be really awesome if you guys could also include metric units for the rest of the world, instead of just imperial units for the U.S.

I hope the tomato dish you had before this video was just as good as the video itself! felling like sherlock here

Yeah like what the heck I want more plane collisions videos

👏👏 one of the first videos I've seen by someone who isn't like a pilot that hasn't cringed me out... love your vids!

The cool thing about ADS-B is, that it enables you to track planes around you with a setup that costs

so linus is an avgeek now

It's cool when Linus talks about your jub 😄. ATC here

More plane videos please!!

That United Airlines joke.

Wow an aviation subject here, thats awesome! Though i should add that newer versions of tcas doesnt need pilot inputs at all to move the plane, they send instructions directly to the autopilot reducing more error and the pilots job is reduced to monitoring the autopilots action lol

Well researched whoever did this. Almost exactly correct. That said the vast majority of separation is down to airspace structure and ATC, but TCAS TA is quite common in busy airspace, in my experience normally due to excessive closure rates

I'm a big aviation enthusiast and it was nice to see linus talk about some of the cool tech used. Ty Linus!

They us rgb signaling lights

2 planes crashed into each other over my hometown one year after i was born. im not kidding. EDIT: they mentioned that in the vid lol

Genuinely one of the most interesting tech quickie episodes I have ever watched...

Linus you know that those website only use ADS-B to see aircraft right? There are more aircraft flying in the air not being broadcast onto those sites or aircraft owners request that there aircraft doesn't get shown up on it either. Also GA aircraft are normally VFR without ATC so they have to keep a good look out 2 seconds per every 30º =

I love that you used IVAO doc' and not the ICAO one.

So fun thing about TCAS, they must be certified to be able to fly 500 feet apart. As for ADS-B, it's still pretty expensive I have an ADS-B in but ADS-B out is hella expensive.

One correction, TCAS can be and is installed in small planes. The Garmin 650 we use in the DA-20 at USAF initial flight training has TCAS. Also the "highways in the sky" are federal airways and actually serve to help avoid collisions.

title of the video sounds like you are complaining!!

Next vid should be VHF omnidirectional range as fast as possible

Wendover sounds kinda weird in this plane video

Airplainquicky confirmed. Or Physicsquicky.

Btw for our glorious metric user's, 16 Miles are ~25km *flies away*

Thanks for watching TunnelBear!

Can you guys do a video on The inertial reference system (IRS) in aircraft used for navigation?

The information is amazingly accurate. I'm a retired FAA air traffic controller. There are further safety systems in air traffic control centers and tracons that further help the humans both in the cockpit and on the ground to recognize potential conflicts.

0:38 Hey, is that an Arby’s down there? XD

What if TCAS is hacked by a nine year old in his mom's basement?

Was it me, or did Linus seem like he hasn't slept in a week. Those red eyes are not the "High" variety.

Please do more videos on airplanes, loved this video

Why Don't Planes Crash Into Each Other More Often?/ Really who asked.

02:53 "WTG BRO", not sure if misspelled wtf

Wendover Productionsss

i think the thumbnail is gonna be a new meme format on the front page of reddit just from the title

Sounds like Linus wants the planes to crash.

what is this? Wendover Productions?

TCAS SYSTEM TEST: OK

Great video Linus

My co-worker used to work for DHL Brussels at that time and had performed work on that aircraft prior to the crash. Needless to say, chills went through him as he heard about the crash, any mechanic would have that. He also knew the pilots. Its a special "air traffic investigation" we always show our students at the end of the year, to show the effects of human error in aviation industry. He also had many valuable inputs on how the NTSB handles aircrashes and personal photographs and memories of the memorial and crash site.

Oh man, a Wendover Productions finally did a face reveal!

This video does a pretty good job explaining TCAS to the average joe. As someone who works with this system for a living, I'm sorry to say that it's not perfect. TCAS works by sending data about direction, altitude, and speed to anyone willing to listen. It does this by using the aircraft's IFF or Identify Friend or Foe. If a plane's IFF computer is not working, or worse, is malfunctioning, it could be be sending incorrect info to nearby aircraft. Larger aircraft usually have backup IFF R/Ts so their info is likely good, but smaller aircraft cannot say the same. Good news is that pilots are trained to use their radar, eye balls, and common sense. Another good thing is that a high percentage of commercial pilots in the US of A are ex-military or active guard/reservists and have been through crazy stuff and trained for even crazier.

There are also high level controls, like nats, and there are highways like UL..., which are 9 mile high routes, so some people will fly at FL330, and some will go at FL410 and anywhere inbetween. TCAS also doesn't work on older planes, like the dc3 that doesn't have a radar. Otherwise spot on

Great work. I noticed you touched on the ADS-B protocol; a good followup video to this one would be to cover ADS-B In and ADS-B Out, as well as their role in next-gen ATC and how they CURRENTLY relate to the TCAS system...

Linus, the guy to complain that planes don't crash into another plane

Next thing we know Linus will be telling us about how alt coins work :P And x86 / CUDA instruction sets.

That final joke really made me laugh out loud. Haha.

Not most... ALL commercial planes are required to have TCAS fitted all across the world.

TCAS, good ATC....and the Mk 1 Eyeball

Traffic, traffic. Climb, climb now!

ADS-B is a neat system. It provides a ton of days to ATC and the pilots. And if you have a system capable of receiving, it even provides aid like basic weather conditions. The compliance mandate in the US is rapidly approaching, and it is currently estimated that there isn't enough maintenance capacity to install the new equipment in all the aircraft in the US in time for the mandate, even working at full capacity with every repair center in the country.

It is kinda crazy seeing this! great video.

Climb, Climb Now. Climb NOW. CLIMB NOW

I'm guessing due to the common sense used by the people who know about how planes and routes work.

All the way through this vid I was thinking of that episode of Mayday that talks about the accident that you talked about at 4:42. Great vid, and well explained.

Very good Linus. You were right on everything!

That’s an oddly specific question...

I hope air bag will deploy in such incident...........LOL

You're the best! All your videos are amazing. You're building the future of knowledge all alone! Hardware now then software, computing, math... yes YOU CAN! You are the teacher every boy needs, every boy deserves.

Really enjoyed this video since im in the process of becoming an air traffic controller. Some of the terminology and sounds were a little off but other than that it was informative for those who don't know about controllers or TCAS.