AN INSTRUCTOR AND HIS STUDENT IN A GRUMMAN AA-1B EXPERIENCED A NEAR MISS WITH AN AGUSTA HELI WHILE ON APCH TO FDK.
Synopsis
AN INSTRUCTOR AND HIS STUDENT IN A GRUMMAN AA-1B EXPERIENCED A NEAR MISS WITH AN AGUSTA HELI WHILE ON APCH TO FDK.
Narrative
IN THE TFC PATTERN; L DOWNWIND FOR RWY 23 AT FDK ARPT; MY PARTNER WAS FLYING. I WAS IN THE R SEAT; HELPING HIM GET RE-FAMILIARIZED WITH THE AIRPLANE AFTER HE HAD NOT FLOWN FOR 1 1/2 YRS. A LCL STATE POLICE HELI; CALLED ON A STRAIGHT-IN FOR RWY 30. MISTAKE #1: I ASKED MY PARTNER; WHO FLEW GLIDERS OUT OF FREDERICK; AND IS FAMILIAR WITH LCL OPS; IF THE HELI WAS GOING TO STOP BEFORE IT GOT TO THE RWY. HE SAID YES. SO I ASSUMED (BAD!) THAT HELI WAS GOING TO COME TO A HOVER BEFORE XING OUR RWY; RWY 23. UNFORTUNATELY; MY PARTNER THOUGHT THAT HELI WAS FLYING THE NORMAL FREDERICK HELI PATTERN; WHICH WAS R TFC FOR RWY 23. HE DIDN'T REALLY HEAR HELI'S RADIO CALLS BECAUSE HE WAS FOCUSING ON FLYING. AS WE ROLLED OUT ONTO FINAL; I SAW HELI HEADING STRAIGHT-IN FOR RWY 30. I KEPT THINKING THAT HELI WAS GOING TO COME TO A HOVER AND NOT CROSS RWY 23. ON SHORT FINAL; HELI WAS HEADED FOR THE END OF RWY 30 STILL AT A HIGH RATE OF SPD. MY PARTNER WAS FOCUSED ON LNDG ON RWY 23 AND DIDN'T SEE HELI (WHICH APPEARED TO BE AN AUGUSTA; WITH RETRACTABLE LNDG GEAR). I FINALLY TOLD MY PARTNER THAT I DIDN'T LIKE THE LOOKS OF THIS AND I GRABBED THE CTLS AND TURNED US AWAY TO THE L AS HELI LANDED BELOW US ON RWY 30. I NEVER EXPECTED HELI TO FLY SO FAST DOWN TO THE RWY. WE MISSED HELI BY ABOUT 100 FT VERTLY AND 200 FT HORIZLY. IN TALKING IT OVER LATER WITH MY PARTNER; WE BOTH REALIZED THAT: 1) HE NEVER SAW HELI AND HE DIDN'T LISTEN WELL ENOUGH TO HELI'S RADIO CALLS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELI WAS DOING. 2) HE ASSUMED THAT HELI WOULD ACT LIKE A NORMAL HELI AND FLY THE R-HAND PATTERN AT FREDERICK. 3) HE WAS FOCUSED ON FLYING AND NEVER SAW HELI. 4) I SAW HELI BUT I THOUGHT THAT MY PARTNER SAW HIM; TOO; SO I NEVER POINTED IT OUT TO HIM; WHICH I SHOULD HAVE. 5) I EXPECTED HELI TO DO SOMETHING AND SHOULD HAVE TAKEN EVASIVE ACTION QUICKER INSTEAD OF ALLOWING MY PARTNER TO FLY TOO CLOSE TO THE HELI. LESSONS LEARNED: NEVER ASSUME! COMMUNICATE EVEN IF YOU THINK EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO SAY! AVOID A DANGEROUS SITUATION MUCH EARLIER. I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD CALL THE STATE POLICE HELI UNIT AND DISCUSS THIS WITH THEM. I DON'T BELIEVE THEY EVER SAW US. I BELIEVE THAT THE STATE POLICE HELIS SHOULD EITHER USE THE HELI TFC PATTERN OR IF THEY ARE GOING TO FLY ONTO THE RWY; ACT LIKE AIRPLANES AND FLY THE AIRPLANE PATTERN. I THINK IT IS DANGEROUS FOR THEM TO FY A STRAIGHT-IN APCH PERPENDICULAR TO THE NORMAL TFC FLOW; ESPECIALLY LNDG ACROSS AN ACTIVE RWY. FREDERICK IS SUPPOSED TO GET A CTL TWR. THIS TYPE OF POTENTIAL ACCIDENT WILL BE PREVENTED BY HAVING A TWR; BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE SO CLOSE AND I DO TAKE THE BLAME FOR THAT.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.