I recently read through all midairs of the USA from 2005-2015. None happened in IMC. I’m curious if you have a source for the accident report?
I have searched for it and read it:
http://www.ntsb.gov/layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?evid=20001211X09798&ntsbno=ATL98FA060B&akey=2
(you have to copy/paste the whole link, no idea why it’s not working here)
The report seems to indicate that both airplanes were VMC at the time of the crash. But the crash was discussed heavily – and there were some eye witnesses that said that “one airplane came out of cloud”.
So you might be right
boscomantico wrote:
The only UK peculiarity here is that the UK does not even require radio contact for that, whereas most others (for example France, Sweden) require it.Sweden does above 5000 feet and in TIZ or TIA. Otherwise not.
Poland also doesn’t require radio contact in G airspace, outside of RMZ (Radio Mandatory Zone) and zones which require radio contact by definition, e.g. ATZ (Aerodrome Traffic Zone) or ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone), etc. It is “good airmanship” to establish contact with the local FIS and let them know what your plans are, but it is not an absolute requirement.
