Narrative:

While conducting tour operations I was headed south west bound along the coast line south of the city. I was flying a robinson R44 with two passengers onboard. I was receiving radar services from approach via a discreet transponder code that is outlined in our letter of agreement. The turnaround point on the particular flight I was flying was the lighthouse. Typically; if I have wind coming from the south west; I will stay 200-300 ft AGL as I transition down the coast line south west bound to stay well below any traffic arriving to and departing [at the nearby airport]. If the wind is not a headwind I will raise my altitude accordingly. On this particular flight; as was true most of the afternoon; I had approximately 12 knots of head wind and was cruising around 300 ft AGL. I maintained my altitude and slowed from cruise speed to my 'orbit speed' of between 60-70 KIAS as I approached the lighthouse. About midway through my left hand orbit of the light house; a single engine high winged cessna appeared from behind the lighthouse south bound in a left bank. It was level with my compass on collision course. I immediately lowered collective into the full down position; entered autorotation and lowered the nose to gain airspeed and increase my rate of descent. I recovered from autorotation approximately 100 ft AGL. The airplane crossed what appeared to be directly above us and would have hit us had I not performed the evasive action. After the airplane flew over us we both continued our orbit. I had slowed down to approximately 35-40 knots and was using my anti torque pedals to fly out of trim to keep the airplane off of my nose and in my direct field of vision. The airplane didn't appear to have changed altitude and I passed behind him as he departed to the north east. I do not believe they saw me. I was unable to obtain his north number. About the time I finished my orbit and passed behind the airplane; I could hear the controller working approach call my north number. I responded and told the controller that; 'I'd like to report an near midair collision.' he responded; 'yeah; I saw that. Are you ok?'without going into the whole dialogue; I reported the near mid-air collision with the cessna. I reported it as being either a 172 or 182 because I wasn't sure which type. It was white with a green stripe running down the side which had brown or tan accents on the stripe. The north number was in the stripe on the tail cone. I never established radio communication with that airplane.[local] approach is very good about giving me traffic advisories and does so on daily basis. It is possible that I did not hear the traffic advisory or alert since I was monitoring approach; unicom at [another nearby airport]; and helicopter air to air frequency as per aim 4-1-11. I was also conducting a tour and conversing with one of the passengers right before the event. I also think that the traffic may have been flying lower than what ATC's radar would pick up and therefore didn't show up on his display to warn me until the airplane climbed just before reaching the lighthouse to make an orbit. I say this; because the airplane descended after our encounter; which approach confirmed.there is a big problem with low flying airplanes in the area where we conduct tours. Very few of them are on the radio from my experience in trying to reach them. I think it's partially because of the class C airspace shelf beginning at 1;200 ft msl. For some strange reason; people are afraid to talk to ATC; or they just don't want to so they stay below it. People also want to fly over [local landmark] and over the lighthouses and over [the city] to see the sights. Almost all do so at an altitude below prescribed minimum safe altitudes prescribed in 91.119. The airplane I encountered at the lighthouse was definitely within 500 ft of a structure (the lighthouse). I think another problem is that a lot of people come into the harbor from [another] airport. I would too. The fuel is cheaper thereand it's an easier airport to navigate. Therefore; people are operating closer to an airport with a different frequency than the frequency to which they are tuned. In my particular aircraft; I have the capabilities of monitoring 3 frequencies. I choose to monitor helicopter air to air; unicom; and approach for radar services. The problem is that; that is both not enough frequencies and too many all at the same time. There are times when there is someone talking on all 3 frequencies at the same time and you have to decide which two to shut off. The company that I work for has pushed that we publish the air to air frequency on the VFR sectional. Personally; I would like that whole area made an 'alert area' with its own frequency printed on the chart. I think it would relieve radio congestion and give pilots guidance as to what frequency they should self-announce on.I also believe that adsb cannot come soon enough and needs to be mandatory for all aircraft with an onboard electrical system for operation in all airspace. I was unable to read this airplanes north number and was not able to get a hold of them on the radio. Had the airplane been equipped with adsb out capabilities; approach would have seen who it was; and I could have too if I had adsb in capabilities. Because of this; I think that accountability will resolve many issues because people know they are being watched. And if they don't know that they're doing something wrong; they will be able to be educated; because they can be tracked down.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: R44 pilot reported a NMAC with another transiting aircraft that was not monitoring the correct frequencies.

Narrative: While conducting tour operations I was headed South West bound along the coast line south of the city. I was flying a Robinson R44 with two passengers onboard. I was receiving radar services from Approach via a discreet transponder code that is outlined in our Letter of Agreement. The turnaround point on the particular flight I was flying was the lighthouse. Typically; if I have wind coming from the South West; I will stay 200-300 ft AGL as I transition down the coast line South West bound to stay well below any traffic arriving to and departing [at the nearby airport]. If the wind is not a headwind I will raise my altitude accordingly. On this particular flight; as was true most of the afternoon; I had approximately 12 knots of head wind and was cruising around 300 ft AGL. I maintained my altitude and slowed from cruise speed to my 'Orbit speed' of between 60-70 KIAS as I approached the lighthouse. About midway through my left hand orbit of the light house; a Single Engine High Winged Cessna appeared from behind the lighthouse South bound in a left bank. It was level with my compass on collision course. I immediately lowered collective into the full down position; entered autorotation and lowered the nose to gain airspeed and increase my rate of descent. I recovered from autorotation approximately 100 ft AGL. The airplane crossed what appeared to be directly above us and would have hit us had I not performed the evasive action. After the airplane flew over us we both continued our orbit. I had slowed down to approximately 35-40 knots and was using my anti torque pedals to fly out of trim to keep the airplane off of my nose and in my direct field of vision. The airplane didn't appear to have changed altitude and I passed behind him as he departed to the North East. I do not believe they saw me. I was unable to obtain his N number. About the time I finished my orbit and passed behind the airplane; I could hear the controller working Approach call my N number. I responded and told the controller that; 'I'd like to report an NMAC.' He Responded; 'Yeah; I saw that. Are you ok?'Without going into the whole dialogue; I reported the Near Mid-Air Collision with the Cessna. I reported it as being either a 172 or 182 because I wasn't sure which type. It was white with a green stripe running down the side which had brown or tan accents on the stripe. The N number was in the stripe on the tail cone. I never established radio communication with that airplane.[Local] Approach is very good about giving me traffic advisories and does so on daily basis. It is possible that I did not hear the traffic Advisory or alert since I was monitoring Approach; Unicom at [another nearby airport]; and Helicopter air to air frequency as per AIM 4-1-11. I was also conducting a tour and conversing with one of the passengers right before the event. I also think that the traffic may have been flying lower than what ATC's Radar would pick up and therefore didn't show up on his display to warn me until the airplane climbed just before reaching the lighthouse to make an orbit. I say this; because the airplane descended after our encounter; which Approach confirmed.There is a BIG problem with low flying airplanes in the area where we conduct tours. Very few of them are on the radio from my experience in trying to reach them. I think it's partially because of the Class C airspace shelf beginning at 1;200 ft msl. For some strange reason; people are afraid to talk to ATC; or they just don't want to so they stay below it. People also want to fly over [local landmark] and over the lighthouses and over [the city] to see the sights. Almost all do so at an altitude below prescribed minimum safe altitudes prescribed in 91.119. The airplane I encountered at the lighthouse was definitely within 500 ft of a structure (the lighthouse). I think another problem is that a lot of people come into the harbor from [another] airport. I would too. The fuel is cheaper thereand it's an easier airport to navigate. Therefore; people are operating closer to an airport with a different frequency than the frequency to which they are tuned. In my particular aircraft; I have the capabilities of monitoring 3 frequencies. I choose to monitor helicopter air to air; UNICOM; and Approach for Radar Services. The problem is that; that is both not enough frequencies and too many all at the same time. There are times when there is someone talking on all 3 frequencies at the same time and you have to decide which two to shut off. The company that I work for has pushed that we publish the air to air frequency on the VFR Sectional. Personally; I would like that whole area made an 'Alert Area' with its own frequency printed on the chart. I think it would relieve radio congestion and give pilots guidance as to what frequency they should self-announce on.I also believe that ADSB cannot come soon enough and needs to be mandatory for all aircraft with an onboard electrical system for operation in ALL airspace. I was unable to read this airplanes N number and was not able to get a hold of them on the radio. Had the airplane been equipped with ADSB out capabilities; Approach would have seen who it was; and I could have too if I had ADSB in capabilities. Because of this; I think that accountability will resolve many issues because people know they are being watched. And if they don't know that they're doing something wrong; they will be able to be educated; because they can be tracked down.

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.