Narrative:

I was on local control when aircraft Y called up requesting a SVFR clearance to the east of the airport. Ceiling was over 2;500 ft AGL but visibility was at 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 SM. I approved SVFR in class D airspace. I noticed an IFR inbound tracking south of the airfield for vectors to ILS 19. I knew I had time before I had to restrict or separate aircraft Y. I told aircraft Y about the IFR traffic and that he would have to land or exit the delta in a few minutes. Aircraft Y said he could possibly land on sight and that he was assisting local rescue personnel in search of an individual in the river east of the field. Controller in charge then called ZZZ let them know we had a situation and might need to send aircraft X around. They called back to tell us aircraft X was low on fuel. I asked for advice from controller in charge. We got a position report from aircraft Y though he never appeared on radar because of his altitude; I allowed aircraft X to land. Given the position report; I and the controller in charge felt assured that there was safe distance between both aircraft and did not want to restrict either because of the low fuel status of aircraft X and the search and rescue assist by aircraft Y. Aircraft X landed without incident; and aircraft Y also landed a little while later without incident. We have no LOA in place with our local helicopter operators; we could not legally separate the SVFR and IFR aircraft. If such procedures had been in place; this incident would not have occurred.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described a loss of separation event when a SVFR helicopter on a rescue mission was less than the required distance from an IFR inbound with minimum fuel. The reporter suggested a new LOA would have assisted in this case.

Narrative: I was on Local Control when Aircraft Y called up requesting a SVFR clearance to the East of the airport. Ceiling was over 2;500 FT AGL but visibility was at 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 SM. I approved SVFR in Class D airspace. I noticed an IFR inbound tracking south of the airfield for vectors to ILS 19. I knew I had time before I had to restrict or separate Aircraft Y. I told Aircraft Y about the IFR traffic and that he would have to land or exit the Delta in a few minutes. Aircraft Y said he could possibly land on sight and that he was assisting local rescue personnel in search of an individual in the river east of the field. CIC then called ZZZ let them know we had a situation and might need to send Aircraft X around. They called back to tell us Aircraft X was low on fuel. I asked for advice from CIC. We got a position report from Aircraft Y though he never appeared on RADAR because of his altitude; I allowed Aircraft X to land. Given the position report; I and the CIC felt assured that there was safe distance between both aircraft and did not want to restrict either because of the low fuel status of Aircraft X and the search and rescue assist by Aircraft Y. Aircraft X landed without incident; and Aircraft Y also landed a little while later without incident. We have no LOA in place with our local helicopter operators; we could not legally separate the SVFR and IFR aircraft. If such procedures had been in place; this incident would not have occurred.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.