MEDIA HELICOPTER COVERING AN ACCIDENT EXPERIENCES AN NMAC WITH ANOTHER HELICOPTER ATTEMPTING TO COVER THE SAME VEHICLE ACCIDENT AT A CO-ALTITUDE.
Synopsis
MEDIA HELICOPTER COVERING AN ACCIDENT EXPERIENCES AN NMAC WITH ANOTHER HELICOPTER ATTEMPTING TO COVER THE SAME VEHICLE ACCIDENT AT A CO-ALTITUDE.
Narrative
I WAS IN A MEDIA HELI COVERING A VEHICLE ACCIDENT. I HAD BEEN ON SCENE FOR 45 MINS WHEN THE TWR INFORMED ME THAT ANOTHER HELI WAS INBOUND TO THE SAME AREA AT 6000 FT. I REPLIED LOOKING FOR TFC. THE TWR THEN INFORMED ACFT Y THAT I WAS ON SCENE AND ACFT Y REPLIED WITH 'TFC IN SIGHT AND MAINTAIN VISUAL SEPARATION.' ACFT Y THEN CONTACTED ME ON HELI AIR-TO-AIR FREQ. I ADVISED THAT I WAS ON SCENE AND AT AN ALT OF 5500 FT AND THAT THEY SHOULD COME IN AT 6000 FT. I WAS INITIALLY UNABLE TO VISUALLY LOCATE THE OTHER HELI. AFTER 2-3 MINS I MADE VISUAL CONTACT WITH ACFT Y AND OBSERVED HIM AT APPROX 75 YARDS OFF TO MY SIDE AND APPROX 50 FT LOWER. WE WERE BOTH MOVING AT ROUGHLY 30-40 KTS. I CONTACTED ACFT Y ON HELI AIR-TO-AIR AND ASKED WHAT THEIR INTENTIONS WERE. I WAS ADVISED THAT THEY WOULD 'BE CHASING ME AROUND THE SCENE AT THE SAME ALT.' I ADVISED THE PLT THAT I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THIS AND THAT NORMALLY ON A SCENE THE 2 LOCAL MEDIA HELIS STACK WITH 500 FT OF VERT SEPARATION AND THAT IT IS FIRST COME; FIRST SERVED FOR THE LOWER ALT. THE PLT OF ACFT Y INFORMED THAT THEY ONLY HAD A 'HANDHELD CAMERA ON BOARD THEIR HELI AND HAD TO BE LOWER.' AT THIS TIME THE TWR CALLED AND INFORMED BOTH OF US THAT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HAD ASKED US TO LEAVE THE AREA DUE TO THE HAZARD. ACFT Y PROMPTLY DEPARTED THE AREA. THIS IS THE THIRD INCIDENT FOR ME WITH THIS ACFT IN THE LAST 5-6 MONTHS. THEY DO OCCASIONAL MEDIA WORK FOR THE 2 LOCAL NEW STATIONS THAT DO NOT HAVE HELIS. THEY COMMUNICATE VERY LITTLE IF AT ALL WITH OTHER ACFT IN THE AREA. THIS HAS BECOME A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE AND; I BELIEVE IF IT CONTINUES; WILL RESULT IN INJURY. MULTIPLE INFORMAL MEETINGS WITH ALL HELI OPERATORS IN THE LOCAL AREA PRESENT HAVE BEEN HELD TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER'S OPS AND IMPROVE COM TO ALL WORK SAFELY TOGETHER. THIS OPERATOR CONTINUES TO SHOW NO EFFORT TO IMPROVE LOCAL SAFETY.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.