Complacency. Target-fixation, i.e., “I have the aircraft in sight” and not looking around to ensure it’s the correct aircraft. If goggles were down, that restricts vision and with all of the ground lights there, the plane could have blended in.
I’ve been involved in a few incidents where I had to clean my pants afterward. It can happen to the best of us. In my opinion, this was not deliberate. It was an unfortunate accident where everything lined up on one point and time in space.
Take what you see on the flight tracker videos. Often, you can’t see altitude separation.
Thanks. I appreciate your perspective, it’s such a small window in time for it to happen ...prayers to the families.