A PLT FLYING AN SMA ON A SIGHTSEEING TOUR ALONG THE HUDSON RIVER AREA BTWN EWR AND LGA HAS AN NMAC WITH A HELI GOING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

Date: 1998-04 · Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer

Anomalies: conflict-nmac|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-unspecified

Synopsis

A PLT FLYING AN SMA ON A SIGHTSEEING TOUR ALONG THE HUDSON RIVER AREA BTWN EWR AND LGA HAS AN NMAC WITH A HELI GOING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.

Narrative

I WAS IN CONTACT WITH EWR TWR; ON A HUDSON RIVER TOUR. I HAD CONTACTED EWR TWR AT 1400 FT AND; TO THE BEST OF MY RECOLLECTION; HAD NOT BEEN TOLD TO MAINTAIN 1400 FT; BUT RATHER TO CROSS THE THRESHOLD OF RWY 4 AT 1400 FT. TWR HAD BEEN INFORMED OF THE RTE OF THE FLT. ANYHOW; I DSNDED TO 900 FT BTWN EWR AND THE STATUE; TURNED; AND HEADED N ALONG E BANK OF RIVER. EWR THEN HANDED ME OFF TO LGA. IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER; I SAW A HELI PROCEEDING S ALONG THE E BANK OF THE HUDSON. IT WAS JUST BELOW MY ALT AND PERHAPS A BIT TO THE E. I SAW IT 5-10 SECONDS BEFORE CLOSEST APCH; AND IMMEDIATELY WENT TO FULL THROTTLE AND A RAPID CLB. WITHIN A FEW SECONDS AFTER THAT; I HEARD AN EXCLAMATION 'WOW' OR 'WHEW' WHICH I INTERPED AS BEING FROM THE HELI. ANOTHER 5-10 SECONDS LATER; MY RADIOS WERE OVERLOADED BY THE XMITTERS ON THE WORLD TRADE CTR; AND I LOST (OR APPARENTLY LOST) RADIO CONTACT. I WAS AT ABOUT 1200 FT AT THE TIME; AND DECIDED TO PROCEED AT 1400 FT. I REGAINED RADIO CONTACT ABOUT 1 MIN LATER AND NOTICED NO COMMENTS FROM ATC. (THOUGH I MIGHT HAVE MISSED ONE BECAUSE I'D TURNED THE VOLUME LOW TO MAKE THE INTERFERENCE LESS ANNOYING. VOLUME CAME UP ABOUT 1 MIN LATER.) NORMAL FLT AFTER THAT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: SOME MODEST DISTR ON MY PART; POINTING OUT LANDMARKS. I SUSPECT THAT THE HELI WAS JUST COMING OUT OF THE REGION OF RADIO INTERFERENCE; AND WAS (OR HAD BEEN) OUT OF CONTACT. HELI WAS A BIT TOO FAR E. IT'S A BAD REGION; WHERE THE ORDERLY TFC FLOW UP AND DOWN THE RIVER MERGES WITH A FREE-FOR-ALL IN THE HARBOR. DISTR OF A HDOF/FREQ CHANGE. AFTERWARDS; I WAS RATHER UNCOMFORTABLE TO BE CHUGGING DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE NEW YORK CLASS B AREA -- OUT OF RADIO CONTACT; AT AN ALT OF MY OWN CHOOSING; WITHOUT INFORMING ATC. OTHER ACFT WAS A SMALL HELI; PROBABLY 2 OR 4 SEATS.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.