Narrative:

On final; we were informed that a helicopter was orbiting east of the field; but he had us 'in sight.' we saw the helicopter and it seemed very close to the airport. At about 1200 feet; we received one 'traffic' TCAS announcement and then one 'climb' announcement. I commenced a go-around and before the gear was up; we received a 'clear of conflict.' we came around for another approach. This time I requested the outboard runway (26L) to give us more space from the helicopter. Even with this approach; where we were lower than the helicopter; it still showed as an amber traffic alert dot until we were below 500 feet. I think that if we had attempted to land on the same runway; we would have received another resolution alert. I have had this problem before in california airspace; where controllers allow a VFR 'see and avoid' aircraft to call us 'in sight;' but they are not equipped with TCAS and get too close and penetrate the TCAS envelope. When I spoke with the ground controller; he stated that this same thing had happened yesterday. Controller education that 'see and avoid' from light aircraft/helicopters doesn't relieve airliners from TCAS resolution alerts and to keep airline traffic separated from VFR aircraft even if the traffic calls the airliner 'in sight.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain is advised of a VFR helicopter orbiting east of the field; with each pilot having the other aircraft in sight. At 1;200 feet a TCAS RA is annunciated and the B737 goes around.

Narrative: On final; we were informed that a helicopter was orbiting east of the field; but he had us 'in sight.' We saw the helicopter and it seemed very close to the airport. At about 1200 feet; we received one 'traffic' TCAS announcement and then one 'climb' announcement. I commenced a go-around and before the gear was up; we received a 'Clear of Conflict.' We came around for another approach. This time I requested the outboard runway (26L) to give us more space from the helicopter. Even with this approach; where we were lower than the helicopter; it still showed as an amber Traffic Alert dot until we were below 500 feet. I think that if we had attempted to land on the same runway; we would have received another Resolution Alert. I have had this problem before in California airspace; where Controllers allow a VFR 'see and avoid' aircraft to call us 'in sight;' but they are not equipped with TCAS and get too close and penetrate the TCAS envelope. When I spoke with the Ground Controller; he stated that this same thing had happened yesterday. Controller education that 'see and avoid' from light aircraft/helicopters doesn't relieve airliners from TCAS Resolution Alerts and to keep airline traffic separated from VFR aircraft even if the traffic calls the airliner 'in sight.

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.