Narrative:

I was established on final; runway 36 at leb on about a 4-5 miles final over the 'microwave tower;' and had been cleared to land. Altitude was about 2;700 - 3;000 ft MSL; descending on the PAPI. Prior to entering the class D; tower had called traffic as an 'EMS helicopter (2) southbound;' and correspondingly called out a twin on final for runway 36 as traffic for EMS. EMS responded 'traffic in sight' and I responded as looking. I was unable to see the traffic until it was necessary to maneuver the aircraft to the east (toward croydon and grafton mountains). The helicopter's lights were 'blended' with the city of lebanon in the background. I suspect this was because as they passed I noticed they had their nose search light on; but pointed toward the ground. This large white light blocked out the helicopter's other lights and made it appear as another bright white light in the city of lebanon. At the prior described location; I noticed that we were on a near-head-on collision course; and maneuvered the aircraft with about 30 degrees of bank and about 1/2 mile to the east (right turn) of centerline to avoid the traffic. Upon landing; I had 2 of the 9 passengers ask what was up with the helicopter flying so close to us and few others exclaim that they were wondering why we suddenly banked sharply. I estimate the distance between aircraft was 350-500 ft. After landing; I asked ATC if the helicopters used the call sign 'life guard' or were always considered as a 'life guard' flight. The reply is that they are only considered as 'life guard' when they use those words; which they were not at this time. As a result; I believe they were in violation of the right-of-way rules (far 91.113) and caused a commercial flight to break off of visual approach guidance and to deviate toward rising terrain. I was in an aircraft with a garmin GNS 430 and happened to have it selected to the terrain page with 120 arc. I saw a lot of yellow. I reestablished on final and landed without any further incident.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A commercial light twin experienced an NMAC with an EMS helicopter while on a night visual approach to LEB.

Narrative: I was established on final; Runway 36 at LEB on about a 4-5 miles final over the 'microwave tower;' and had been cleared to land. Altitude was about 2;700 - 3;000 FT MSL; descending on the PAPI. Prior to entering the Class D; Tower had called traffic as an 'EMS helicopter (2) southbound;' and correspondingly called out a twin on final for Runway 36 as traffic for EMS. EMS responded 'traffic in sight' and I responded as looking. I was unable to see the traffic until it was necessary to maneuver the aircraft to the east (toward Croydon and Grafton Mountains). The helicopter's lights were 'blended' with the city of Lebanon in the background. I suspect this was because as they passed I noticed they had their nose search light on; but pointed toward the ground. This large white light blocked out the helicopter's other lights and made it appear as another bright white light in the city of Lebanon. At the prior described location; I noticed that we were on a near-head-on collision course; and maneuvered the aircraft with about 30 degrees of bank and about 1/2 mile to the east (right turn) of centerline to avoid the traffic. Upon landing; I had 2 of the 9 passengers ask what was up with the helicopter flying so close to us and few others exclaim that they were wondering why we suddenly banked sharply. I estimate the distance between aircraft was 350-500 FT. After landing; I asked ATC if the helicopters used the call sign 'Life Guard' or were always considered as a 'Life Guard' flight. The reply is that they are only considered as 'Life Guard' when they use those words; which they were not at this time. As a result; I believe they were in violation of the right-of-way rules (FAR 91.113) and caused a commercial flight to break off of visual approach guidance and to deviate toward rising terrain. I was in an aircraft with a Garmin GNS 430 and happened to have it selected to the terrain page with 120 Arc. I saw a lot of yellow. I reestablished on final and landed without any further incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.