Phl controller described TCAS RA event involving a crj arrival and a parachute jump aircraft; the re...

Narrative:

I issued a crj clearance to proceed direct ditch intersection at 12;000. A jump aircraft had called south arrival to advise that they were climbing to jump altitude (13;500) with skydivers. The jump plane was not pointed out to me by the south arrival controller. When the aircraft were about 2 miles apart; the crj advised they were responding to a TCAS/RA and descended to 11;500. I observed the jump aircraft in my airspace and issued traffic. The parachute operation has been an on going safety hazard. These aircraft operate in extremely congested airspace requiring controllers to adjust arrival and departure flows during very busy periods. Due to the structure of the phl airspace; the jump aircraft transition three sectors in phl airspace as well as climbing into the washington center airspace before releasing their jumpers. This operation increases the phl controller's workload immensely and in my opinion should be relocated to an airport that does not severely impact air traffic operations.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PHL Controller described TCAS RA event involving a CRJ arrival and a parachute jump aircraft; the reporter commenting the jump operation should be moved to less impacted area.

Narrative: I issued a CRJ clearance to proceed direct DITCH Intersection at 12;000. A jump aircraft had called South Arrival to advise that they were climbing to jump altitude (13;500) with skydivers. The jump plane was not pointed out to me by the South Arrival Controller. When the aircraft were about 2 miles apart; the CRJ advised they were responding to a TCAS/RA and descended to 11;500. I observed the jump aircraft in my airspace and issued traffic. The parachute operation has been an on going safety hazard. These aircraft operate in extremely congested airspace requiring controllers to adjust arrival and departure flows during very busy periods. Due to the structure of the PHL airspace; the jump aircraft transition three sectors in PHL airspace as well as climbing into the Washington Center airspace before releasing their jumpers. This operation increases the PHL Controller's workload immensely and in my opinion should be relocated to an airport that does not severely impact air traffic operations.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	900100
Time
Date	201007
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	PHL.Airport
State Reference	PA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Twin Otter DHC-6
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	None
Person 1
Function	Departure
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Phl controller described TCAS RA event involving a crj arrival and a parachute jump aircraft; the reporter commenting the jump operation should be moved to less impacted area.