Narrative:

While flying a photo/time-building mission; myself and the chief pilot of the company I fly with flew into class C airspace to intercept and take pictures of a power boat race that we saw while flying sbound along the shore. The boat race took place approximately 1-2 mi from the shore. The chief pilot was at the controls for the duration of the incident. Upon being cleared into the class C airspace; the chief pilot flew into the 'thick' of the race and directly into the area in which the 4-5 helicopters were operating. I was instructed to take pictures of all boats that I was put in a position to take them in. After flying around and in the boat race for approximately 5-10 mins; an R44 helicopter basically cut us off by coming from behind and flying across our flight path horizontally and at our altitude approximately 75 ft in front of us. This required evasive action by the chief pilot and he promptly jerked the helicopter to the left as soon as possible to avoid the possibility of in-flight collision. At about the same time; I hear the ATC controller say something like; 'helicopter abc since you will not reply to anything I say I'm going to have to kick you out of the class charlie.' while we were departing the airspace heading north; the R44 helicopter paralleled our course; matched altitude and airspeed; and were visually demonstrating signs of hostility with their hands and I believe they were motioning for us to leave as soon as possible. They had pulled up on the right side of our helicopter and I had to rouse the chief pilot's attention that they were following us and motioning for us to leave. Eventually; the R44 helicopter turned around and I assumed that it headed back to the boat race. We continued northbound along the shore and eventually landed at our origin.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: R22 EXPERIENCES NMAC WITH R44 WHILE PERFORMING A PHOTO MISSION.

Narrative: WHILE FLYING A PHOTO/TIME-BUILDING MISSION; MYSELF AND THE CHIEF PLT OF THE COMPANY I FLY WITH FLEW INTO CLASS C AIRSPACE TO INTERCEPT AND TAKE PICTURES OF A PWR BOAT RACE THAT WE SAW WHILE FLYING SBOUND ALONG THE SHORE. THE BOAT RACE TOOK PLACE APPROX 1-2 MI FROM THE SHORE. THE CHIEF PLT WAS AT THE CTLS FOR THE DURATION OF THE INCIDENT. UPON BEING CLRED INTO THE CLASS C AIRSPACE; THE CHIEF PLT FLEW INTO THE 'THICK' OF THE RACE AND DIRECTLY INTO THE AREA IN WHICH THE 4-5 HELIS WERE OPERATING. I WAS INSTRUCTED TO TAKE PICTURES OF ALL BOATS THAT I WAS PUT IN A POS TO TAKE THEM IN. AFTER FLYING AROUND AND IN THE BOAT RACE FOR APPROX 5-10 MINS; AN R44 HELI BASICALLY CUT US OFF BY COMING FROM BEHIND AND FLYING ACROSS OUR FLT PATH HORIZONTALLY AND AT OUR ALT APPROX 75 FT IN FRONT OF US. THIS REQUIRED EVASIVE ACTION BY THE CHIEF PLT AND HE PROMPTLY JERKED THE HELI TO THE L ASAP TO AVOID THE POSSIBILITY OF INFLT COLLISION. AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME; I HEAR THE ATC CTLR SAY SOMETHING LIKE; 'HELI ABC SINCE YOU WILL NOT REPLY TO ANYTHING I SAY I'M GOING TO HAVE TO KICK YOU OUT OF THE CLASS CHARLIE.' WHILE WE WERE DEPARTING THE AIRSPACE HDG N; THE R44 HELI PARALLELED OUR COURSE; MATCHED ALT AND AIRSPD; AND WERE VISUALLY DEMONSTRATING SIGNS OF HOSTILITY WITH THEIR HANDS AND I BELIEVE THEY WERE MOTIONING FOR US TO LEAVE ASAP. THEY HAD PULLED UP ON THE R SIDE OF OUR HELI AND I HAD TO ROUSE THE CHIEF PLT'S ATTN THAT THEY WERE FOLLOWING US AND MOTIONING FOR US TO LEAVE. EVENTUALLY; THE R44 HELI TURNED AROUND AND I ASSUMED THAT IT HEADED BACK TO THE BOAT RACE. WE CONTINUED NBOUND ALONG THE SHORE AND EVENTUALLY LANDED AT OUR ORIGIN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.