Air Traffic Incident at EPGD Involving an Airbus A320 and an EC35 Helicopter

Incident Overview and Aircraft Involved On 3 April 2015, an incident occurred in the controlled traffic region (CTR) of EPGD. The investigation identified three aircraft in the vicinity: an Airbus A320, an EC35 helicopter, and an Embraer E190. The event was classified as an incident, and no fatalities, serious injuries, or minor injuries were reported. ## Sequence of Events The crew of the Airbus A320 was conducting a final approach to runway 29 at EPGD using a VOR procedure. During this phase, the aircraft's Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) issued a traffic advisory (TA) indicating potentially conflicting traffic below the flight path. At that time, the EPGD tower controller did not have information about other traffic near the A320. Shortly afterward, the pilot of the EC35 helicopter contacted the EPGD tower, stating that the helicopter had departed from the Medical Academy heliport, located 1.5 nautical miles from the approach path to runway 29, and intended to fly to EPGD for refueling. The controller informed the helicopter pilot that it was number three for landing, behind the A320 and an Embraer 190. After landing, the A320 crew was informed that the EC35 helicopter may have been the traffic that generated the TCAS warning. ## Cause and Contributing Factors The investigation determined that the cause of the incident was the EC35 helicopter pilot's failure to coordinate in advance entry into the active EPGD controlled traffic region, where other traffic was present. A contributing factor was the difficulty in establishing radio communication from the helicopter before takeoff, as the heliport elevation was lower than the airport elevation, making it hard to obtain clearance from air traffic control. ## Preventive Actions and Recommendations The investigation was supervised by Robert Ochwat and concluded on 7 October 2015. No safety recommendations were issued by the State Commission for Aviation Accident Investigation (PKBWL). Preventive actions included the development of joint system rules by the involved users for the use of hospital heliports and other locations within airport controlled zones, focusing on safe takeoff procedures for rescue aviation.