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The pilot of a mooney M20 reported that after an announced take-off from an uncontrolled airport; observed a helicopter takeoff; turn and rapidly climb below him.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1400806 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201611 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | M-20 Series Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Climb |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 1100 Flight Crew Type 500 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict NMAC |
| Miss Distance | Horizontal 0 Vertical 50 |
Narrative:
I called 'ZZZ traffic; mooney [tail number]; departing 27; northbound'; and started my takeoff roll. Shortly after that (< 15 seconds); I heard a call from a medivac helicopter that he was taking off and would parallel 27; then turn north. The helicopter was taking off about 2/3 of the way toward the west end of the runway and south of it. I figured he had heard or seen me and would wait until I passed to turn north. As I was climbing; he took off westward; then suddenly turned north under me; climbing rapidly. I got on the radio and said 'helicopter do you see me? I'm 50 feet over your head'. He said that he didn't see me and hadn't heard a call. I said that I had made the departure call.I'm not sure what all to do differently myself. You can't repeat or clarify every traffic call. His call was consistent with what I expected him to do (wait to go north); but also consistent with what he actually did (go north immediately). When I did notice the conflict; I should have given him unambiguous instructions ('helicopter; don't climb'). I might have turned south; but that would have been a non-intuitive turn-towards-the-threat maneuver. Options were alarmingly limited when low; at best climb rate; and being crowded from below.I think the helicopter was depending too much on the radio calls; he should have looked down the runway before crossing it.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: The pilot of a Mooney M20 reported that after an announced take-off from an uncontrolled airport; observed a helicopter takeoff; turn and rapidly climb below him.
Narrative: I called 'ZZZ traffic; Mooney [tail number]; departing 27; northbound'; and started my takeoff roll. Shortly after that (< 15 seconds); I heard a call from a medivac helicopter that he was taking off and would parallel 27; then turn north. The helicopter was taking off about 2/3 of the way toward the west end of the runway and south of it. I figured he had heard or seen me and would wait until I passed to turn north. As I was climbing; he took off westward; then suddenly turned north under me; climbing rapidly. I got on the radio and said 'helicopter do you see me? I'm 50 feet over your head'. He said that he didn't see me and hadn't heard a call. I said that I had made the departure call.I'm not sure what all to do differently myself. You can't repeat or clarify every traffic call. His call was consistent with what I expected him to do (wait to go north); but also consistent with what he actually did (go north immediately). When I did notice the conflict; I should have given him unambiguous instructions ('helicopter; don't climb'). I might have turned south; but that would have been a non-intuitive turn-towards-the-threat maneuver. Options were alarmingly limited when low; at best climb rate; and being crowded from below.I think the helicopter was depending too much on the radio calls; he should have looked down the runway before crossing it.
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.