PA46 departed from vrb, encountered skydiver near X26 airport at 2500 ft.

Attributes
ACN	611055
Time
Date	200403
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : x26.airport
State Reference	FL
Altitude	msl single value : 2500
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : vrb.tower
Operator	general aviation : instructional
Make Model Name	PA-46 Malibu
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	departure : vfr
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	other
Function	instruction : instructor
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 35 flight time total : 11040 flight time type : 500
ASRS Report	611055
Person 2
Affiliation	other
Function	instruction : trainee
Events
Anomaly	conflict : nmac inflight encounter : skydivers non adherence : published procedure
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Miss Distance	horizontal : 150
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Airspace Structure FAA Flight Crew Human Performance ATC Human Performance Airport
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Narrative:

We departed vero beach, fl, airport and were still listening to tower frequency when we came very close to at least 1 skydiver while flying about 1-2 mi west of sebastian airport. Contributing factors were concentrating on items inside the cockpit and not realizing how close we were to the sebastian airport. My opinion is that dropping skydivers over the sebastian airport is a dangerous enterprise with such a large amount of traffic passing over or near that airport northbound or sbound. There are many airports on the east coast of florida which cause a conflagration of aircraft and bodies to come together at an intersection. Possibly the vero beach tower controller should be required to advise/remind northbound pilots of the possibility of skydiving over or near the sebastian airport.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA46 DEPARTED FROM VRB, ENCOUNTERED SKYDIVER NEAR X26 ARPT AT 2500 FT.

Narrative: WE DEPARTED VERO BEACH, FL, ARPT AND WERE STILL LISTENING TO TWR FREQ WHEN WE CAME VERY CLOSE TO AT LEAST 1 SKYDIVER WHILE FLYING ABOUT 1-2 MI W OF SEBASTIAN ARPT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE CONCENTRATING ON ITEMS INSIDE THE COCKPIT AND NOT REALIZING HOW CLOSE WE WERE TO THE SEBASTIAN ARPT. MY OPINION IS THAT DROPPING SKYDIVERS OVER THE SEBASTIAN ARPT IS A DANGEROUS ENTERPRISE WITH SUCH A LARGE AMOUNT OF TFC PASSING OVER OR NEAR THAT ARPT NBOUND OR SBOUND. THERE ARE MANY ARPTS ON THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA WHICH CAUSE A CONFLAGRATION OF ACFT AND BODIES TO COME TOGETHER AT AN INTXN. POSSIBLY THE VERO BEACH TWR CTLR SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO ADVISE/REMIND NBOUND PLTS OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SKYDIVING OVER OR NEAR THE SEBASTIAN ARPT.

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.