A PA28 PILOT HAD AN NMAC WITH A HELICOPTER IN THE PATTERN WHEN HE FAILED TO SET HIS RADIOS PROPERLY.
Synopsis
A PA28 PILOT HAD AN NMAC WITH A HELICOPTER IN THE PATTERN WHEN HE FAILED TO SET HIS RADIOS PROPERLY.
Narrative
I WAS ON A PLEASURE TRIP WITH MY WIFE. UPON TKOF FROM VAY IN RENTAL ACFT; IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE TOP LATCH ON THE DOOR WAS UNDONE. I DIVERTED TO A NEARBY ARPT (ZZZ1); LANDED; STOPPED ON THE RAMP; AND RE-LATCHED THE DOOR. AFTER TKOF; THE DOOR'S TOP LATCH WAS FOUND TO BE STILL A PROB. I DECIDED TO LAND AT ZZZ. IN PREPARATION; I RETUNED THE RADIOS TO THE CTAF FOR ZZZ AND THE SECOND RADIO TO NEARBY ZZZ3 ATIS TO GET WIND AND WX FOR MY LNDG. I WAS NOT ABLE TO GET THE ATIS AND I DSNDED TO 1500 FT AGL AND MADE A PASS MID-FIELD AND WAS ABLE TO OBSERVE A WIND T INDICATING THAT RWY 4 WAS THE CURRENT RWY IN USE. I DIDN'T SEE OR HEAR ANY OTHER TFC ON THE RADIO. I ENTERED THE PATTERN ANNOUNCED MY LOCATIONS AND LANDED ON RWY 4. UPON PARKING ON A RAMP I SHUT DOWN TO RE-SECURE THE DOOR; MY WIFE DISCOVERED THAT SHE HAD LOST A CAMERA SHE WAS USING PROBABLY AT THE PRIOR ARPT. WE DECIDED TO RETURN TO LOOK FOR IT. THE DOOR WAS FINALLY SECURE AND I TAXIED TO TAKE OFF ON RWY 4. I DID MY RUN-UP AND ANNOUNCED DEP ON RWY 4. AS I WAS STARTING MY TKOF ROLL; I NOTICED A HELI ABOUT 300 FT AGL MOVING FROM L TO R OVER WHAT I THOUGHT TO BE THE ARPT'S TURF RWY. I DID NOT HEAR ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS ON THE RADIO SO I CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE AND ROTATED THINKING HE WAS PASSING OVER THE END OF THE RWY. I REALIZED THAT HE HAD STOPPED AND TURNED OVER THE END OF THE RWY AND WAS PROBABLY LNDG ON RWY 22; BUT THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH RWY AHEAD TO MAKE A SAFE STOP AND I WAS ALREADY 100 FT ABOVE THE RWY. I TOOK EVASIVE ACTION AND TURNED L TOWARD THE PATTERN TO AVOID THE LNDG HELI. AFTER I WAS CLEAR; I LOOKED AT MY RADIOS AND DISCOVERED I HAD LEFT THE AUDIO SWITCH ON THE ATIS RADIO AND NOT THE CTAF ONE. AFTER I CHANGED THE SETTING; I HEARD THE HELI PLT DISCUSSING THE NEAR MISS. I TALKED TO THE OTHER PLT AND APOLOGIZED FOR MY ERROR. NOT BEING ON THE CTAF I NEVER HEARD THE PATTERN CALLS FROM THE OTHER PLTS SO I WAS NOT AWARE THEY WERE USING RWY 22 AND NOT RWY 4. I SHOULD HAVE DOUBLECHKED THE SWITCH SETTINGS ON MY RADIOS AND AUDIO PANEL BEFORE I TOOK OFF AND REQUESTED A RADIO CHK TO VERIFY COMS. I SHOULD NOT HAVE LET THE DOOR OPEN AND LOST CAMERA DISTRACT ME FROM THE PROPER RADIO CHKS BEFORE TAKING OFF AND NOT HAVE RELIED ON THE WIND T BUT ALSO PERFORMED ANOTHER FLY-OVER AND CHKED THE WINDSOCK AS WELL. I HOPE THIS MISTAKE WILL HELP OTHER PLTS AVOID A SIMILAR SITUATION. IT IMPRESSED ON ME THE IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMING A THOROUGH DOUBLECHK OF ALL CHKLIST ITEMS BEFORE TKOF.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.