Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 412
Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
[As we were] descending for landing while IMC; Approach had just started talking to X; a VFR aircraft with no transponder. The VFR aircraft told ATC they were at 3;000 MSL. We were about to level off at 3;000 FT and broke out of the cloud base at around 3;100 FT. Just then we saw the VFR aircraft at our two o'clock; 1/2 mile co-altitude moving away on a northeast heading; we were headed west. The VFR aircraft told TRACON that a 'Boeing just went by.'The VFR aircraft was just below the cloud base by only a small amount. We told Tower that we had a near mid-air and would file a report.
We were IMC until leveling at 3;000 FT. As we came out of the clouds we saw a Cessna at our two o'clock and 1/2 mile at our altitude. We never received a TCAS Alert. The plane known as Jump 1 had just began to communicate with Approach to let him know he had jumpers and no TCAS.
An arriving IFR Air Carrier just exiting IMC suffered a close encounter with a VFR Cessna flying immediately below the cloud cover.