2 HELIS LNDG AT A DOWNTOWN HELIPORT EXPERIENCE NMAC.

Date: 2005-12 · Aircraft: Eurocopter AS 350/355/EC130 - Astar/Twinstar/Ecureuil · Phase: approach

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

Synopsis

2 HELIS LNDG AT A DOWNTOWN HELIPORT EXPERIENCE NMAC.

Narrative

OUR INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO PROCEED TO THE DOWNTOWN HOSPITAL; SET XPONDER; MAINTAIN BELOW 1400 FT; REMAIN E OF THE ARPT AND OBSERVE LNDG ACFT. WHILE INSIDE ZZZ AIRSPACE; THE COMPANY RADIO WAS CUT OFF TO THE PLT SO THAT I COULD STAY ALERT FOR DIRECTIONS FROM TWR. AT APPROX 2 MI S; ZZZ TWR CLRED ME FROM THEIR AIRSPACE. I RESET THE XPONDER TO 1200; TURNED THE COMPANY RADIO BACK ON FOR THE PLT. AT THIS POINT I HEARD OUR NURSE CALLING OUR OTHER ACFT. SHE ATTEMPTED SEVERAL MORE TIMES TO REACH THEM BUT DID NOT GET ANY RESPONSE. I THEN ASKED THE CREW WHAT I HAD MISSED AND TO UPDATE ME. OUR NURSE ADVISED THAT COMPANY WAS INBOUND ALSO TO THE HOSPITAL BUT COULD NOT ESTABLISH ANY CONTACT WITH THEM TO GET AN UPDATE ON THEIR ARR. I CALLED DISPATCH AND ASKED HOW MANY HELIS WERE COMING TO HOSPITAL. HE ADVISED ME THAT COMPANY AND I SHOULD BE THERE AT APPROX THE SAME TIME AND THAT HE ALSO HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO ESTABLISH ANY CONTACT WITH THEM AND ASKED IF I WOULD TRY TO CONTACT THEM. BY THIS TIME WE WERE AT THE HOSPITAL AND DID NOT SEE OR HEAR ANY ACFT IN THE AREA. I SET UP TO LAND FROM THE N TO THE S. DURING FINAL APCH; APPROX 40 FT FROM THE PAD; COMPANY DISPATCH CALLED AND WANTED TO KNOW IF WE WERE AWARE THAT WE HAD ALMOST HAD A MIDAIR. AT THIS TIME I CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF COMPANY IN MY 3 O'CLOCK POS ABOVE ME APPROX 200 FT IN A CLOCKWISE TURN. THIS WAS THE FIRST XMISSION THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THEM. WE LANDED TO THE S END OF THE PAD AND ADVISED DISPATCH THAT WE WERE DOWN. THE PLT WALKED OVER TO ME AND WANTED TO KNOW IF I KNEW HOW CLOSE WE HAD COME TO A MIDAIR. I RELATED TO HIM I WAS NOT AWARE OF ANY MIDAIR AND DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS IN THE AREA UNTIL HE CALLED DISPATCH AND INFORMED THEM OF THE NMAC. I STATED TO HIM THAT I HAD NOT SEEN HIM NOR HAD I HEARD ANY XMISSIONS FROM HIM AND THAT DISPATCH ALSO HAD BEEN TRYING TO REACH HIM BUT HAD BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL. HE STATED THAT HE HAD NOT HEARD ANY RADIO XMISSIONS FROM US ON FREQ OR ANY XMISSIONS FROM US OR DISPATCH ON THE COMPANY RADIO. AFTER WE RETURNED TO THE PAD WE HAD A VERY SERIOUS MEETING ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND TRIED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WENT WRONG AND HOW THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

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