Narrative:

On 10/sun/88 I flew several loads of skydivers, usually climbing to 12000 or 13000' MSL. Bwi approach, which we usually contact on 133.00, was very busy and did not reply to our calls. (An small aircraft D and small aircraft east were also flying skydivers and experienced the same events.) I then contacted ZNY on 132.50 which was also very busy and assigned me 132.20. On 10/sun/88 at around XA40 I took off with 10 skydivers from devener airport near hanover, PA, in an small transport. After reaching 5000' MSL I called ZNY on 132.20. I may have tried to reach them several times and am not sure at what altitude I contacted them. I told ZNY that I was over hands intersection, climbing to 13000', with jumpers. The small transport has a transponder, but no altitude encoding capability. When at 11700' the controller asked me again what altitude I was going to. I said, 'ZNY, small transport climbing to 1-3-thousand', now climbing through 11000, 700.' my company traffic heard that statement. In retrospect, I believe this transmission created the problem. Possibly the controller only heard part of the transmission or did not understand what I had in mind. At that time I was in radar contact squawking a discrete code. I proceeded to climb to altitude, and upon reaching 12500', proceeded on a jump run about 4 mi ene of devener on a heading of 240 degrees. At about 2 mi I called ZNY, informing them that the skydivers would jump in about 2 mins. I proceeded to add some flaps to help me get to 13000'. Roughly over the airport I was between 12700 and 13000', when I suddenly noticed an medium large transport appearing at 7 O'clock, about 1/2 mi away and maybe 300' lower, heading for my airplane. I immediately turned left, which allowed me to see him until he disappeared behind the small transport, passing maybe 200' to our right. There was no advisory from ZNY to either airplane about our close proximity. Some of my passenger were scared a little bit and I am certain the same was true for the passenger in the medium large transport. ZNY asked me to confirm my altitude, which at that time was 12700'. Visibility was great all day long. There were some spurts of high traffic between about XA00 and XD00 and XE00, through XF00. It is my feeling that the near miss occurred due to some misunderstanding on the controller's part, to the fact that the small transport I flew did not have altitude encoding and to the fact that the medium large transport crew did not feel any need to scan the airspace. They must have discovered our presence at about the same time I saw that coming from the rear. After the event, the controller was unhappy about my using even or odd thousands of ft for the jump run. Until that time no controller objected to that altitude. We expect to carry an encoding altimeter in the airplane in the next few weeks. Steps were taken 2 weeks ago to upgrade the instrumentation in that respect. I feel this should help to some extent. We still plan to use 10500, 11500 and 12500' for our drops. We do realize that this is a high traffic area and generally see several jets cruising through this airspace on the way to dulles or bwi. When traffic permits, we prefer being handled by bwi approach. Most controllers there are quite efficient and courteous. It just seems, that when traffic is high, controllers are not able to handle the vol of traffic in the air.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NMAC BETWEEN SKYDIVING SMT DROP PLANE AND MLG.

Narrative: ON 10/SUN/88 I FLEW SEVERAL LOADS OF SKYDIVERS, USUALLY CLBING TO 12000 OR 13000' MSL. BWI APCH, WHICH WE USUALLY CONTACT ON 133.00, WAS VERY BUSY AND DID NOT REPLY TO OUR CALLS. (AN SMA D AND SMA E WERE ALSO FLYING SKYDIVERS AND EXPERIENCED THE SAME EVENTS.) I THEN CONTACTED ZNY ON 132.50 WHICH WAS ALSO VERY BUSY AND ASSIGNED ME 132.20. ON 10/SUN/88 AT AROUND XA40 I TOOK OFF WITH 10 SKYDIVERS FROM DEVENER ARPT NEAR HANOVER, PA, IN AN SMT. AFTER REACHING 5000' MSL I CALLED ZNY ON 132.20. I MAY HAVE TRIED TO REACH THEM SEVERAL TIMES AND AM NOT SURE AT WHAT ALT I CONTACTED THEM. I TOLD ZNY THAT I WAS OVER HANDS INTXN, CLBING TO 13000', WITH JUMPERS. THE SMT HAS A TRANSPONDER, BUT NO ALT ENCODING CAPABILITY. WHEN AT 11700' THE CTLR ASKED ME AGAIN WHAT ALT I WAS GOING TO. I SAID, 'ZNY, SMT CLBING TO 1-3-THOUSAND', NOW CLBING THROUGH 11000, 700.' MY COMPANY TFC HEARD THAT STATEMENT. IN RETROSPECT, I BELIEVE THIS XMISSION CREATED THE PROB. POSSIBLY THE CTLR ONLY HEARD PART OF THE XMISSION OR DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT I HAD IN MIND. AT THAT TIME I WAS IN RADAR CONTACT SQUAWKING A DISCRETE CODE. I PROCEEDED TO CLB TO ALT, AND UPON REACHING 12500', PROCEEDED ON A JUMP RUN ABOUT 4 MI ENE OF DEVENER ON A HDG OF 240 DEGS. AT ABOUT 2 MI I CALLED ZNY, INFORMING THEM THAT THE SKYDIVERS WOULD JUMP IN ABOUT 2 MINS. I PROCEEDED TO ADD SOME FLAPS TO HELP ME GET TO 13000'. ROUGHLY OVER THE ARPT I WAS BTWN 12700 AND 13000', WHEN I SUDDENLY NOTICED AN MLG APPEARING AT 7 O'CLOCK, ABOUT 1/2 MI AWAY AND MAYBE 300' LOWER, HDG FOR MY AIRPLANE. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED LEFT, WHICH ALLOWED ME TO SEE HIM UNTIL HE DISAPPEARED BEHIND THE SMT, PASSING MAYBE 200' TO OUR RIGHT. THERE WAS NO ADVISORY FROM ZNY TO EITHER AIRPLANE ABOUT OUR CLOSE PROX. SOME OF MY PAX WERE SCARED A LITTLE BIT AND I AM CERTAIN THE SAME WAS TRUE FOR THE PAX IN THE MLG. ZNY ASKED ME TO CONFIRM MY ALT, WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS 12700'. VISIBILITY WAS GREAT ALL DAY LONG. THERE WERE SOME SPURTS OF HIGH TFC BTWN ABOUT XA00 AND XD00 AND XE00, THROUGH XF00. IT IS MY FEELING THAT THE NEAR MISS OCCURRED DUE TO SOME MISUNDERSTANDING ON THE CTLR'S PART, TO THE FACT THAT THE SMT I FLEW DID NOT HAVE ALT ENCODING AND TO THE FACT THAT THE MLG CREW DID NOT FEEL ANY NEED TO SCAN THE AIRSPACE. THEY MUST HAVE DISCOVERED OUR PRESENCE AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME I SAW THAT COMING FROM THE REAR. AFTER THE EVENT, THE CTLR WAS UNHAPPY ABOUT MY USING EVEN OR ODD THOUSANDS OF FT FOR THE JUMP RUN. UNTIL THAT TIME NO CTLR OBJECTED TO THAT ALT. WE EXPECT TO CARRY AN ENCODING ALTIMETER IN THE AIRPLANE IN THE NEXT FEW WKS. STEPS WERE TAKEN 2 WKS AGO TO UPGRADE THE INSTRUMENTATION IN THAT RESPECT. I FEEL THIS SHOULD HELP TO SOME EXTENT. WE STILL PLAN TO USE 10500, 11500 AND 12500' FOR OUR DROPS. WE DO REALIZE THAT THIS IS A HIGH TFC AREA AND GENERALLY SEE SEVERAL JETS CRUISING THROUGH THIS AIRSPACE ON THE WAY TO DULLES OR BWI. WHEN TFC PERMITS, WE PREFER BEING HANDLED BY BWI APCH. MOST CTLRS THERE ARE QUITE EFFICIENT AND COURTEOUS. IT JUST SEEMS, THAT WHEN TFC IS HIGH, CTLRS ARE NOT ABLE TO HANDLE THE VOL OF TFC IN THE AIR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.