Narrative:

I was flying southeast bound along the palos verdes peninsula shoreline and inadvertently came close to an oncoming helicopter that I didn't see earlier on. I then reversed course at about point fermin; and flew back along the same route; and at about point vincente the same thing happened again; this time we were flying in the same direction. I guess according to the right-of-way protocol I have to accept the most responsibility for safe separation; and I do; especially for the second incident when I was coming up behind the helicopter. We did make radio contact via the torrance airport tower after the second incident when we were individually calling the tower. The helicopter pilot wondered why I hadn't been monitoring a certain frequency earlier. I said I had; I was monitoring 121.95; which according to my VFR terminal area chart was the one to use in this area for safety purposes. He said that that was not the correct freq for helicopters though; which I wasn't aware of. I apologized for the incident and we went on our way. With regard to what can be done to prevent incidents like this; myself and all fixed wing aircraft pilots operating in this area; especially at lower altitudes; must be kept aware of the dangers involved in airspace being used by the two types of aircraft and their speed and maneuverability differences. And perhaps the helicopter communication frequency could be added to the chart (unless it's on there and I can't find it). But increased visual awareness education is most important.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A light aircraft pilot reported not one but two airborne conflicts with a helicopter in the Palos Verdes peninsula area. The helicopter pilot mentioned an air to air frequency used by rotor wing pilots the reporter was not aware of; and could not locate on the charts.

Narrative: I was flying southeast bound along the Palos Verdes peninsula shoreline and inadvertently came close to an oncoming helicopter that I didn't see earlier on. I then reversed course at about Point Fermin; and flew back along the same route; and at about Point Vincente the same thing happened again; this time we were flying in the same direction. I guess according to the right-of-way protocol I have to accept the most responsibility for safe separation; and I do; especially for the second incident when I was coming up behind the helicopter. We did make radio contact via the Torrance Airport Tower after the second incident when we were individually calling the Tower. The helicopter pilot wondered why I hadn't been monitoring a certain frequency earlier. I said I had; I was monitoring 121.95; which according to my VFR terminal area chart was the one to use in this area for safety purposes. He said that that was not the correct freq for helicopters though; which I wasn't aware of. I apologized for the incident and we went on our way. With regard to what can be done to prevent incidents like this; myself and all fixed wing aircraft pilots operating in this area; especially at lower altitudes; must be kept aware of the dangers involved in airspace being used by the two types of aircraft and their speed and maneuverability differences. And perhaps the helicopter communication frequency could be added to the chart (unless it's on there and I can't find it). But increased visual awareness education is most important.

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.