A320 captain reports a TCAS RA approaching bil at 7;000 ft with a VFR departure; both talking to ATC...

Attributes
ACN	1135611
Time
Date	201312
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	BIL.TRACON
State Reference	MT
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 155 Flight Crew Total 23000 Flight Crew Type 1250
Person 2
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude

Narrative:

Approaching bil level at 7;000 ft in VMC. We were about 5 south of airport awaiting clearance from ATC for an approach. I noticed traffic at one o'clock departing the pattern at bil climbing towards us on TCAS. As we proceeded the traffic continued towards us but ATC said nothing. We eventually got a TCAS climb and climbed approximately 4;500 per TCAS direction. The other traffic continued to climb into us on the TCAS. As I told ATC of the TCAS climb the controller pointed us out as traffic to the aircraft causing our TCAS climb. I inquired if the other traffic was VFR or IFR and was told it was VFR. The controller was controlling us and in radio contact with the other aircraft; but never attempted to prevent the TCAS event. As I watched the map display the other aircraft came within 400 ft of us on the TCAS. It's disconcerting that ATC did nothing to prevent this avoidable TCAS event.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reports a TCAS RA approaching BIL at 7;000 FT with a VFR departure; both talking to ATC. ATC makes no attempt to prevent the conflict and the A320 climbs 4;500 FT at TCAS direction.

Narrative: Approaching BIL level at 7;000 FT in VMC. We were about 5 south of airport awaiting clearance from ATC for an approach. I noticed traffic at one o'clock departing the pattern at BIL climbing towards us on TCAS. As we proceeded the traffic continued towards us but ATC said nothing. We eventually got a TCAS climb and climbed approximately 4;500 per TCAS direction. The other traffic continued to climb into us on the TCAS. As I told ATC of the TCAS climb the Controller pointed us out as traffic to the aircraft causing our TCAS climb. I inquired if the other traffic was VFR or IFR and was told it was VFR. The Controller was controlling us and in radio contact with the other aircraft; but never attempted to prevent the TCAS event. As I watched the map display the other aircraft came within 400 FT of us on the TCAS. It's disconcerting that ATC did nothing to prevent this avoidable TCAS event.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

A320 captain reports a TCAS RA approaching bil at 7;000 ft with a VFR departure; both talking to ATC. ATC makes no attempt to prevent the conflict and the A320 climbs 4;500 ft at TCAS direction.