CRJ200 first officer reports a TCAS RA during the trups 1 arrival to dca at 6;000 feet. ATC does not...

Narrative:

On the trups one RNAV arrival into dca; between rllll and lacke at 6;000 feet we noticed traffic at our 12 o'clock; less than five miles ahead; roughly around 300 to 400 feet above us on the TCAS. We confronted ATC and asked if they had traffic in front of us; the controller simply replied; 'yes; there is traffic in front of you.' at this time we received a TCAS alert followed by an audible warning to monitor vertical speed. We then complied with the RA and descended to avoid the traffic. We notified ATC and were instructed to continue our descent to 4;000 feet. In our descent we saw the traffic which appeared to be a light single engine aircraft. We then continued on the arrival and landed in dca uneventfully. This event occurred due to the lack of assistance from ATC. They could have simply given us a heading to avoid the traffic but instead gave us an ignorant response.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ200 First Officer reports a TCAS RA during the TRUPS 1 arrival to DCA at 6;000 feet. ATC does not seem concerned and issues a descent clearance only after a descent is initiated by the crew in compliance with the RA.

Narrative: On the TRUPS ONE RNAV arrival into DCA; between RLLLL and LACKE at 6;000 feet we noticed traffic at our 12 o'clock; less than five miles ahead; roughly around 300 to 400 feet above us on the TCAS. We confronted ATC and asked if they had traffic in front of us; the controller simply replied; 'Yes; there is traffic in front of you.' At this time we received a TCAS alert followed by an audible warning to monitor vertical speed. We then complied with the RA and descended to avoid the traffic. We notified ATC and were instructed to continue our descent to 4;000 feet. In our descent we saw the traffic which appeared to be a light single engine aircraft. We then continued on the arrival and landed in DCA uneventfully. This event occurred due to the lack of assistance from ATC. They could have simply given us a heading to avoid the traffic but instead gave us an ignorant response.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1041280
Time
Date	201210
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	PCT.TRACON
State Reference	VA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	STAR TRUPS 1
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude

CRJ200 first officer reports a TCAS RA during the trups 1 arrival to dca at 6;000 feet. ATC does not seem concerned and issues a descent clearance only after a descent is initiated by the crew in compliance with the RA.