Small Aircraft
Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120; Flight Crew Total 750; Flight Crew Type 650
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness
Conflict NMAC; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Chart Or Publication
On [Date] at XA:00Z; my student and I were within 300 ft. vertical from a jump aircraft. We were performing low level ground reference maneuvers in Aircraft X 7nm southeast of E60 at 2;300 - 2;400 ft. MSL. The other aircraft involved was Aircraft Y. We had heard about parachute activity about 15 minutes prior to the event. The issue was that the pilot reporting the drops was using a location reference 'Area 51' that is not charted; and was likely stepped on when reporting the geographic location. Our aircraft had been maneuvering at that location for about fifteen minutes before we spotted Aircraft Y. We were about 2300 [ft.] MSL when our panel alerted us to the nearby aircraft. We made radio calls with our position and activities several times as we began our maneuvers. We were headed eastbound as we entered an Eights on Pylon maneuver. Embarrassingly enough; neither me or my student witnessed Aircraft Y approaching and were shocked when we saw it depicted on our ADS-B as being above us +300 ft. This lack of awareness was likely caused by maneuver fixation and is inexcusable as we make a point to clear traffic and call prior to every maneuver. We deconflicted by descending further and continuing our right turn to the south. We flew west and excited the area back to ZZZ. As we were leaving; we heard the pilot of the other aircraft cal lout and reference the again as 'Area 51' and placed it at 5 miles southeast of Picacho Reservoir. Our maneuvers took place 6-7 miles due south of that location. I left the flight with a long list of questions about how we found ourselves sandwiched between a jump plane and the ground. How did I let that other aircraft get the jump on me? Did he even see us? Where the heck is 'Area 51'? How big is this 'dropzone' and how was our location a factor? I do bear some responsibility for the incident as I did not observe the aircraft approaching. I did not ask for clarification of the dropzone in a congested airspace with busy practice area frequency. The drop plane made very few calls for how busy the airspace was. I would imagine that the pilot was under the impression that everyone on the frequency knew where this dropzone was located. I also doubt the pilot of Aircraft Y was aware of our location as he did not maneuver in a way that made sense for traffic avoidance. I will be putting extra focus on my traffic avoidance practices. My communications left something to be desired as I did not call the aircraft up before; during; or after the event. I will be working on being more clear about what I am doing in the practice area and repeat it every so often in the event that an aircraft did not hear about my activities. I will also be reaching out to our Chief Pilot to figure out if we can open a dialog with the jump company as to where their drop zones are.
Instructor reported an NMAC event during a training flight with an aircraft that was dropping skydivers.