[dragonwriter]

> Not sure I’d call crossing traffic “within a few miles” a near-miss.

Generally, from what I can find, the FAA definition is <500ft, so no, a few miles is potentially an issue, but not what would generally be categorized as a near miss unless there is some situational wrinkle that applies here.

[kijin]

The Air Force is probably used to flying much closer to one another, but civilians are not. Even in a busy airspace, jet airliners are usually kept apart >1000ft vertically, and much more horizontally in the direction they're moving. These birds can fly 500ft in less than 1 second after all.

[dragonwriter]

> The Air Force is probably used to flying much closer to one another, but civilians are not.

The FAA isn’t primarily concerned with the Air Force. They investigate and address loss of separation incidents that fall short of rheir definition of near misses, they just don’t describe them as near misses.

[kijin]

I wasn't talking about the FAA definition specifically, only that military pilots probably have a narrower definition of a near miss than civilians do.

They also seem to be overconfident in their ability to identify, track and evade other aircraft. Example: the Helicopter pilot who crashed into a civilian jet over the Potomac earlier this year.