B727 HAS NMAC WITH HELI AT MDW; IL.

Narrative

OUR FLT WAS HOLDING SHORT OF RWY 22L READY FOR TKOF. THERE WERE 3 ACFT THAT WERE LANDED WHILE WE WAITED. WHILE WAITING; WE HEARD ABOUT A HELI THAT WAS CLRED ACROSS THE ARPT AT 1100 FT. WE WERE NEVER ISSUED THIS INFO; WE JUST OVERHEARD IT ON TWR FREQ. WE WERE CLRED FOR TKOF. IT HAD PROBABLY BEEN 5-10 MINS SINCE WE OVERHEARD THE HELI INFO. WE HAD JUST LIFTED OFF WHEN OUT OF THE CORNER OF MY EYE OUT THE L WINDOW I SPOTTED THIS HELI RIGHT OFF OUR L WINGTIP; ACTUALLY JUST AHEAD OF THE WINGTIP. WE COULDN'T HAVE MISSED THIS HELI BY MORE THAN 200 FT. DUE TO OUR CLOSE PROX TO THE GND; I COULDN'T ROLL THE ACFT AWAY FOR FEAR OF WINGTIP CONTACT WITH THE GND. TWR NEVER NOTIFIED US OF THIS TFC AND THE HELI WAS NOT DETECTABLE ON INITIAL TKOF ROLL -- IT WAS NOT LIT BY MORE THAN A RED BEACON. VERY HARD TO SEE UNLESS YOU LOOKED AT IT FROM OUR VANTAGE POINT -- AT ROTATION. NEEDLESS TO SAY; MYSELF AND MY CREW WERE SLIGHTLY FLUSTERED BY THIS EVENT. MDW ARPT SERVES MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF ACFT FROM B757'S TO SMALL GA AIRPLANES. THIS JUST MAKES IT MORE IMPERATIVE FOR CTLRS TO BE MORE VIGILANT.