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A helicopter pilot reported a near midair collision with an unmanned weather balloon near hilo airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1530801 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201803 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ITO.Airport |
| State Reference | HI |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Helicopter |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 135 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 9300 Flight Crew Type 7500 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Conflict NMAC |
| Miss Distance | Horizontal 150 Vertical 0 |
Narrative:
I was transitioning northwest above ito (hilo) airport at approximately 5;300 feet when an unmanned weather balloon passed my right side at eye level roughly 150 feet away. I announced this event to the approach controller on duty.strangely; this is not the first; second or third time this has happened to me in the same general area and approximately the same time of day over the last seven years. At least three; maybe more times prior; I have had somewhat near misses with these weather balloons. I fear that someday; this will not be a near miss. I do not blame the approach controller; as these balloons are completely invisible to him/her; and after a short time from launch the exact location of the balloon becomes entirely unknown.I strongly urge the FAA to partner up with the national weather service and mandate ads-B out installation on future versions of weather balloon hardware. This would allow any aircraft with ads-B in to identify and avoid the balloons; and would also allow ATC to monitor the balloon location throughout ascent. The equipment required is already available and is incredibly small and lightweight.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A helicopter pilot reported a NMAC with an unmanned weather balloon near Hilo airport.
Narrative: I was transitioning northwest above ITO (Hilo) airport at approximately 5;300 feet when an unmanned weather balloon passed my right side at eye level roughly 150 feet away. I announced this event to the approach controller on duty.Strangely; this is not the first; second or third time this has happened to me in the same general area and approximately the same time of day over the last seven years. At least three; maybe more times prior; I have had somewhat near misses with these weather balloons. I fear that someday; this will not be a near miss. I do not blame the approach controller; as these balloons are completely invisible to him/her; and after a short time from launch the exact location of the balloon becomes entirely unknown.I strongly urge the FAA to partner up with the National Weather Service and mandate ADS-B out installation on future versions of weather balloon hardware. This would allow any aircraft with ADS-B in to identify and avoid the balloons; and would also allow ATC to monitor the balloon location throughout ascent. The equipment required is already available and is incredibly small and lightweight.
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.