Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironhorse
ATC question. We were flying to Mexico on WestJet and at some point the plane did a banking turn and then shortly afterwards I looked out the window to see another large plane (737 size) scoot just underneath us at about a 30 degree closure angle. It seemed really close by, much closer than I thought was allowed. Closure speed was too fast to notice the tail colours, but I could easily see the individual windows. Is this common?
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There are vertical separation rules for all IFR aircraft which is 1000' below FL290 and 2000' above FL290. Although the the other aircraft you saw appeared really close, they would have been under this separation rule by ATC. In busy aircraft corridors (southern/north central California is one example) it is common to have aircraft crossings continuously in the flight levels and below.
There is also separation rules for VFR aircraft which is commonly only 500'.