EMS helicopter pilot departing an accident site beneath uncontrolled airport traffic pattern; report...

Attributes
ACN	863238
Time
Date	200911
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Jet Ranger All Series Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Route In Use	Direct
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Rotorcraft Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 5400 Flight Crew Type 5000
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

During takeoff from a hems (helicopter emergency medical service) pickup at a motor vehicle accident site approximately 2 miles southeast of an uncontrolled airport; a light aircraft overflew the site without announcing his position. Takeoff was aborted until the aircraft was clear. After takeoff the pilot contacted me on CTAF and stated that he had received my transponder on his TCAS; but never saw my aircraft visually in the air or on the ground nor did he self announce his position; but did hear my takeoff call from the scene. The event could have been avoided if the pilot had monitored the airport CTAF; responded to takeoff calls and made appropriate position reports. The fire department personnel in the landing zone first noticed the aircraft behind the helicopter during the takeoff. Contributing factors were a lack of communication from aircraft in the vicinity of airport and inaction when the TCAS alerted. Also it was a holiday with perceived minimal traffic.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMS helicopter pilot departing an accident site beneath uncontrolled airport traffic pattern; reports conflict with a light aircraft in the pattern. Light aircraft pilot did not self announce pattern entry or respond to reporters calls on CTAF.

Narrative: During takeoff from a HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service) pickup at a motor vehicle accident site approximately 2 miles Southeast of an uncontrolled airport; a light aircraft overflew the site without announcing his position. Takeoff was aborted until the aircraft was clear. After takeoff the pilot contacted me on CTAF and stated that he had received my transponder on his TCAS; but never saw my aircraft visually in the air or on the ground nor did he self announce his position; but did hear my takeoff call from the scene. The event could have been avoided if the pilot had monitored the airport CTAF; responded to takeoff calls and made appropriate position reports. The Fire Department personnel in the landing zone first noticed the aircraft behind the helicopter during the takeoff. Contributing factors were a lack of communication from aircraft in the vicinity of airport and inaction when the TCAS alerted. Also it was a holiday with perceived minimal traffic.

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.