Small Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turboprop Eng
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100; Flight Crew Total 2050; Flight Crew Type 450
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Human Factors; Airspace Structure; Procedure
On final jump run at 13;500 feet; I saw an airliner climbing up through our drop zone toward the northeast. I've been flying skydive operations every weekend for almost three years. I follow the same procedure at all times and maintain constant communication between ATC and advisory. No one gave us any kind of alert that traffic would be coming through drop zone and when I notified ATC they paused. After a few seconds I asked if they copied my traffic report and they did confirm. Nothing else was said regarding the matter. I am very diligent about complying with ATC instruction and suggestions when I fly skydive operations and they are very good at giving me a nice picture to visualize if anyone is in the area. This is the closest I've seen an aircraft that was unexpected in our drop zone.
I was performing the handoff functions for the sector. When I acquired the position it was fairly busy already. Aircraft X called for radar services however the controller was too busy to acknowledge the aircraft. I was busy answering landlines and coordinating other aircraft. I don't believe the controller was even able to acknowledge the aircraft at all. After a few minutes Aircraft X indicated that he was almost hit by a commuter jet. Aircraft X was VFR. I didn't have a chance to point the aircraft out to any adjacent sectors due to work load.A third sector needed to be opened for frequency relief however there was not enough staffing to accommodate this.
Skydiving pilot and TRACON Controller reported an aircraft was permitted to fly through the skydiving operation active jump zone.