A300
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Procedure
ATC warned us of VFR traffic at 17;000 FT. We picked him up on TCAS. We were on collision course with him and he passed us with only 300 FT vertical separation. We got a TCAS RA and were forced to take action to avoid a possible collision. We never saw him visually but TCAS indicated that he passed directly overhead with 200-300 FT separation. With a VFR pilot flying at 17;000 FT without communications with ATC; ATC could have been more urgent in its information about the traffic.
A300 Captain experiences an airborne conflict with an unidentified VFR aircraft at 17;000 FT during climb. ATC pointed out the traffic and evasive action is taken in compliance with a TCAS RA. Minimum vertical separation was 300 FT beneath the intruder.