HELI LOOKING FOR CATTLE EXPERIENCED NMAC WITH AGRICULTURAL ACFT.

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WHILE LOOKING FOR CATTLE; HOVERING AT APPROX 10 FT AGL BTWN 30 FT TALL TREES; WE WERE COMPLETELY SURPRISED WHEN AN AERIAL SPRAYER (PROBABLY A 402 AIR TRACTOR) APPEARED AND CIRCLED APPROX 200 FT ABOVE US; AS HE PREPARED TO BEGIN HIS SPRAY RUN IN THE COTTON FIELD ADJOINING THE PASTURE WE WERE IN. IT SEEMED AS THOUGH HE WAS JUST AS SURPRISED AS WE WERE. HE IMMEDIATELY BEGAN HIS RUNS ON THE FIELD AND WE STAYED IN THE TREES UNTIL HE WAS A SAFE DISTANCE AWAY. HAD WE COME OUT OF THE TREES A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER; THE RESULT COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC. MY SOLE REASON FOR RPTING THIS IS TWOFOLD. THE FIRST REASON IS TO EMPHASIZE THE NEED FOR US AS PLTS TO BE CONSTANTLY VIGILANT; DUE TO THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY OF 2 ACFT INTERSECTING AND COLLIDING; EVEN IN AN UNPOPULATED; SEEMINGLY MIDDLE OF NOWHERE; WITH OBVIOUS CATASTROPHIC RESULTS. THE SECOND REASON IS TO EMPHASIZE THE NEED FOR A REQUIREMENT OF ALL ACFT TO HAVE OPERATING XPONDERS WITH ALT ENCODING. AS WE HAVE A TFC ALERTING SYS IN OUR ACFT; WE WOULD HAVE BEEN ALERTED ADEQUATELY TO KEEP OUR POS. AS IT WAS; BY THE GRACE OF GOD; WE DID ANYWAY. COMPARING THE COST OF MOST ACFT; TO THE LOSS OF LIFE AND PROPERTY POSSIBLE; THE ADDITIONAL COST XPONDER WITH BLIND ENCODER SEEMS NIL!