Narrative:

On totec 7 arrival approaching sadee intersection, ATC advised of traffic 11 O'clock, 13500 ft, 5 mi. First officer was flying and I rogered call. Looking for traffic, I was surprised to see him (an small transport jump plane) slightly higher than us. I responded that we saw the target and asked his altitude. Controller was busy talking to jump plane but we determined that it was headed away from us and slightly left to right. I directed a left turn to pass behind the traffic. At about 1-2 mi, ATC directed the aircraft to descend immediately to below 14000 ft. The jump pilot responded a skydiver had exited the aircraft and the plane started a hard diving turn into our path. The first officer reversed the turn back to the right and as we passed the jump plane, it was in a near vertical spiral and was at least 1000 ft below us. ATC later told me that he had climbed to 14300 ft before descending. ATC (ZAB) also said that so far, the operator had not been discouraged from operating on the centerline of this very busy arrival route and despite the fact that he was legal VFR, it has caused problems in the past. I would recommend there be more positive separation between IFR and known VFR traffic with possibly more control of jump activities within the airway structure (similar to control zone restrictions or acrobatics within an airway).

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ARRIVING ACR COMES IN CLOSE PROX TO A JUMP ACFT. EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN BY BOTH ACFT.

Narrative: ON TOTEC 7 ARR APCHING SADEE INTXN, ATC ADVISED OF TFC 11 O'CLOCK, 13500 FT, 5 MI. FO WAS FLYING AND I ROGERED CALL. LOOKING FOR TFC, I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE HIM (AN SMT JUMP PLANE) SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN US. I RESPONDED THAT WE SAW THE TARGET AND ASKED HIS ALT. CTLR WAS BUSY TALKING TO JUMP PLANE BUT WE DETERMINED THAT IT WAS HEADED AWAY FROM US AND SLIGHTLY L TO R. I DIRECTED A L TURN TO PASS BEHIND THE TFC. AT ABOUT 1-2 MI, ATC DIRECTED THE ACFT TO DSND IMMEDIATELY TO BELOW 14000 FT. THE JUMP PLT RESPONDED A SKYDIVER HAD EXITED THE ACFT AND THE PLANE STARTED A HARD DIVING TURN INTO OUR PATH. THE FO REVERSED THE TURN BACK TO THE R AND AS WE PASSED THE JUMP PLANE, IT WAS IN A NEAR VERT SPIRAL AND WAS AT LEAST 1000 FT BELOW US. ATC LATER TOLD ME THAT HE HAD CLBED TO 14300 FT BEFORE DSNDING. ATC (ZAB) ALSO SAID THAT SO FAR, THE OPERATOR HAD NOT BEEN DISCOURAGED FROM OPERATING ON THE CTRLINE OF THIS VERY BUSY ARR RTE AND DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE WAS LEGAL VFR, IT HAS CAUSED PROBLEMS IN THE PAST. I WOULD RECOMMEND THERE BE MORE POSITIVE SEPARATION BTWN IFR AND KNOWN VFR TFC WITH POSSIBLY MORE CTL OF JUMP ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE AIRWAY STRUCTURE (SIMILAR TO CTL ZONE RESTRICTIONS OR ACROBATICS WITHIN AN AIRWAY).

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.