Narrative:

I was working the arrival; departure and satellite position for [class B and class D] airports. When I first sat down on position; the class B airport was VFR; and although the scope showed precipitation; the weather was not an issue. I got a couple of ride reports from the pilots; it was smooth rides and light rain. I worked for maybe 20 minutes and the weather was progressively getting worse. I took the handoff from tower for a VFR helicopter. I continued to work and the traffic volume started to pick up. The helicopter checked in and I ask him his destination. He said [his planned destination] wasn't happening and he was going to go to [the class D]. I asked if he had the current weather; he said no. I read him the weather and asked him his flight conditions. He mentioned he had only 2 miles of visibility. I asked him if wanted to be vectored for an approach; but he said he didn't need it. The helicopter was 3 miles from the airport and still didn't have [the class D] in sight. I asked him again if he wanted to be vectored for an approach. The helicopter refused and would was confident that he would be able to see the airport. I pointed out the field to him and that's when he mentioned he would just have to set her down right here. As all this was going on; the volume had picked up and weather had gotten worse. Some aircraft were asking to deviate. When I finally got back to the helicopter; he was no longer with me on frequency. I informed the supervisor and he took the appropriate action. I should have attempted to make the aircraft IFR instead of trusting that he was going to be able to see the airport. I could have been more insistent that he use an approach instead of attempting to see the airport.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described a helicopter off field landing event; the reporter indicating he should have been more insistent on IFR handling regardless of the pilots requests.

Narrative: I was working the Arrival; Departure and Satellite position for [Class B and Class D] Airports. When I first sat down on position; The Class B airport was VFR; and although the scope showed precipitation; the weather was not an issue. I got a couple of ride reports from the pilots; it was smooth rides and light rain. I worked for maybe 20 minutes and the weather was progressively getting worse. I took the handoff from Tower for a VFR helicopter. I continued to work and the traffic volume started to pick up. The helicopter checked in and I ask him his destination. He said [his planned destination] wasn't happening and he was going to go to [the Class D]. I asked if he had the current weather; he said no. I read him the weather and asked him his flight conditions. He mentioned he had only 2 miles of visibility. I asked him if wanted to be vectored for an approach; but he said he didn't need it. The helicopter was 3 miles from the airport and still didn't have [the Class D] in sight. I asked him again if he wanted to be vectored for an approach. The helicopter refused and would was confident that he would be able to see the airport. I pointed out the field to him and that's when he mentioned he would just have to set her down right here. As all this was going on; the volume had picked up and weather had gotten worse. Some aircraft were asking to deviate. When I finally got back to the helicopter; he was no longer with me on frequency. I informed the Supervisor and he took the appropriate action. I should have attempted to make the aircraft IFR instead of trusting that he was going to be able to see the airport. I could have been more insistent that he use an approach instead of attempting to see the airport.

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.