Helicopter pilot experiences a near midair collision with a seaplane over the east river exclusion i...

Attributes
ACN	1174914
Time
Date	201405
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	6N5.Airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Sikorsky Helicopter Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Seaplane or Amphibian
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Rotorcraft Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 6000 Flight Crew Type 4000
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Horizontal 200 Vertical 100

Narrative:

While holding in the prescribed pattern over the east river exclusion in nyc; we joined two other helicopters who were also in the hold. The pattern is 1;000 feet AGL left hand turns from the 59th st bridge to the williamsburg bridge along the banks of manhattan; brooklyn and queens. A seaplane was departing the river to the north; and another seaplane was in a downwind on the brooklyn side; southbound; opposite the helicopter holding pattern. On our second circuit; turning south from the 59th st bridge a seaplane reported north of the bridge. We had visual contact before completing our turn; and then we lost visual contact. About midway on the south leg of our hold we were cleared to land. As I started my left descending turn the seaplane that was behind and above me was now fully in the left cockpit window and slightly lower. I jerked up on the collective to stop our descent because I thought we would collide. We had no tcad warnings; and heard no reports from the seaplane of their intentions other than the initial report. We have made inquiries with the heliport manager; lga tower; and the eastern region helicopter council (erhc) as to the procedures that the seaplanes use. Why the seaplane chose to fly below holding traffic and attempt to pass us from a blind spot without any communication is an unknown.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Helicopter pilot experiences a NMAC with a seaplane over the East River exclusion in NYC while turning to land at the East 34th Street Heliport.

Narrative: While holding in the prescribed pattern over the East River exclusion in NYC; we joined two other helicopters who were also in the hold. The pattern is 1;000 feet AGL left hand turns from the 59th St Bridge to the Williamsburg Bridge along the banks of Manhattan; Brooklyn and Queens. A seaplane was departing the river to the north; and another seaplane was in a downwind on the Brooklyn side; southbound; opposite the helicopter holding pattern. On our second circuit; turning south from the 59th St Bridge a seaplane reported north of the bridge. We had visual contact before completing our turn; and then we lost visual contact. About midway on the south leg of our hold we were cleared to land. As I started my left descending turn the seaplane that was behind and above me was now fully in the left cockpit window and slightly lower. I jerked up on the collective to stop our descent because I thought we would collide. We had no TCAD warnings; and heard no reports from the seaplane of their intentions other than the initial report. We have made inquiries with the heliport manager; LGA Tower; and the Eastern Region Helicopter Council (ERHC) as to the procedures that the seaplanes use. Why the seaplane chose to fly below holding traffic and attempt to pass us from a blind spot without any communication is an unknown.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Helicopter pilot experiences a near midair collision with a seaplane over the east river exclusion in nyc while turning to land at the east 34th street heliport.