Narrative:

Cleared to 17000 direct to dupont VOR. Center advised VFR traffic at 12500 2 O'clock and 5 mis. I said we had him on TCASII and looked outside first officer's side window. I said 'I might have him visually' but couldn't be sure because first officer was flying and proceeding direct dupont VOR as cleared and in turn I lost the traffic I was looking at. First officer proceeded to climb and navigation as cleared when we received a RA on TCASII to monitor vertical speed and limit climb to 500 ft a min. First officer did this and traffic passed overhead us, possibly a bit behind, at 1 point vertical clearance may have been only 600 ft. Very difficult to say because we were proceeding as cleared and only limited climb rate because of TCASII, and we had lost sight of the intruder during the run. I'm not sure that this was a near miss, but feel there was some miscom involved that should be reported for future reference. I believe center should not have put us on a conflicting course with traffic. I don't think VFR traffic should navigation through the philadelphia-dca area, especially in the higher altitudes. I don't think I should have said anything to center except request a vector around the traffic if he thought it was close. Also the center frequency was very busy and the controller obviously had a very heavy workload.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MLG HAS A CONFLICT WITH A VFR ACFT PROCEEDED BY A TCASII RA.

Narrative: CLRED TO 17000 DIRECT TO DUPONT VOR. CTR ADVISED VFR TFC AT 12500 2 O'CLOCK AND 5 MIS. I SAID WE HAD HIM ON TCASII AND LOOKED OUTSIDE FO'S SIDE WINDOW. I SAID 'I MIGHT HAVE HIM VISUALLY' BUT COULDN'T BE SURE BECAUSE FO WAS FLYING AND PROCEEDING DIRECT DUPONT VOR AS CLRED AND IN TURN I LOST THE TFC I WAS LOOKING AT. FO PROCEEDED TO CLB AND NAV AS CLRED WHEN WE RECEIVED A RA ON TCASII TO MONITOR VERT SPD AND LIMIT CLB TO 500 FT A MIN. FO DID THIS AND TFC PASSED OVERHEAD US, POSSIBLY A BIT BEHIND, AT 1 POINT VERT CLRNC MAY HAVE BEEN ONLY 600 FT. VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY BECAUSE WE WERE PROCEEDING AS CLRED AND ONLY LIMITED CLB RATE BECAUSE OF TCASII, AND WE HAD LOST SIGHT OF THE INTRUDER DURING THE RUN. I'M NOT SURE THAT THIS WAS A NEAR MISS, BUT FEEL THERE WAS SOME MISCOM INVOLVED THAT SHOULD BE RPTED FOR FUTURE REF. I BELIEVE CTR SHOULD NOT HAVE PUT US ON A CONFLICTING COURSE WITH TFC. I DON'T THINK VFR TFC SHOULD NAV THROUGH THE PHILADELPHIA-DCA AREA, ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGHER ALTS. I DON'T THINK I SHOULD HAVE SAID ANYTHING TO CTR EXCEPT REQUEST A VECTOR AROUND THE TFC IF HE THOUGHT IT WAS CLOSE. ALSO THE CTR FREQ WAS VERY BUSY AND THE CTLR OBVIOUSLY HAD A VERY HVY WORKLOAD.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 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.