20051003033639A

(-23) On October 3, 2005, at 1100 eastern daylight time, an Embraer 170, N650RW, operated by shuttle america, was undamaged while climbing to avoid traffic near Washington Dulles International Airport (iad), Dulles, Virginia. The certificated airline transport pilot, commercial pilot, a cabin attendant, and 70 passengers were not injured. One cabin attendant was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the flight that originated from montreal dorval international airport (yul), montreal, Canada. The scheduled passenger flight was conducted under 14 CFR part 121. In written statements, the flight crew explained that as they approached the airport, on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern at 3,000 feet, the airplane's traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) provided a resolution advisory (ra), and advised the crew to initiate a climb. The first officer climbed the airplane to 3,500 feet, and "once the ra was complied with", descended back to 3,000 feet. Preliminary air traffic control (ATC) radar and communication date depicted the accident airplane on a southerly track at 3,000 feet, and anotherairplane converging head-on from the south, at 2,500 feet. The controller instructed the accident airplane to turn to a southwesterly heading, and the airplane assumed a divergent, southwesterly track for about 10 seconds, before a climb to 3,500 feet was initiated. After the airplane descended to 3,000 feet, a cabin attendant advised the flight crew that the other cabin attendant was injured. After consulting with the cabin crew, the flight elected to continue the flight to Dulles airport, and medical personnel met the airplane at the gate. According to the director of safety for the operator, company management did not immediately know the exact details of the event, and the airplane was placed back into service. Consequently, cockpit voice recorder data for the accident flight was lost. Company personnel downloaded the flight data recorder (FDR), and the data was forwarded to the safety board laboratory in Washington, d.c., for analysis. The captain held an airline transport pilot certificate with a rating for airplane multi-engine land. His most recent federal aviation administration (FAA) first class medical certificate was issued April 14, 2005. The captain reported 2,000 total hours of flight experience, 173 hours of which were in make and model. The first officer held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane multi-engine land. His most recent FAA first class medical certificate was issued on October 6, 2004. The first officer reported 5,300 total hours of flight experience, 453 hours of which were in make and model. At 1051, the weather reported at Dulles airport included a broken ceiling at 20,000 feet, with 8 miles of visibility. The temperature was 69 degrees fahrenheit and the dew point was 53 degrees fahrenheit.