Narrative:

During a patient leg using night vision goggles (nvg) I encountered decreasing ceilings and visibility. I was VFR because of forecast icing at 4;000 ft; high winds and turbulence. The conditions at takeoff were unlimited ceiling and 10 miles visibility. Our departure airport was overcast at 2;800 and 5 miles; light rain. I was about 20 miles from the hospital and was informed that another aircraft in my program had returned to the airport two minutes after takeoff because of weather. This base is only a few miles from my destination so I decided to turn around and head for my home base and coordinate ground transport.I realized that the conditions had worsened to the point that I was getting lower; slower and I was making several turns to maintain VFR. I decided to go IFR at a time and place of my choosing. I set a heading over the water; set up the autopilot and climbed into IMC conditions. I contacted approach control and declared an emergency. I requested vectors for the ILS approach into our departure airport. I told them my current squawk code and asked to be informed when he had me on radar. He called me back with radar contact; and a vector and altitude to the localizer. I landed at the airport and transported the patient by ground. I should have made the decision to turn around earlier. My experience flying in the area; the forecast and the ATIS led me to believe that conditions were about to improve the further I got away from the mountains and the closer I got to my destination.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air ambulance pilot was forced by deteriorating weather to enter IMC prior to requesting and receiving an IFR clearance to an airport near his destination hospital.

Narrative: During a patient leg using Night Vision Goggles (NVG) I encountered decreasing ceilings and visibility. I was VFR because of forecast icing at 4;000 FT; high winds and turbulence. The conditions at takeoff were unlimited ceiling and 10 miles visibility. Our departure airport was overcast at 2;800 and 5 miles; light rain. I was about 20 miles from the hospital and was informed that another aircraft in my program had returned to the airport two minutes after takeoff because of weather. This base is only a few miles from my destination so I decided to turn around and head for my home base and coordinate ground transport.I realized that the conditions had worsened to the point that I was getting lower; slower and I was making several turns to maintain VFR. I decided to go IFR at a time and place of my choosing. I set a heading over the water; set up the autopilot and climbed into IMC conditions. I contacted Approach Control and declared an emergency. I requested vectors for the ILS approach into our departure airport. I told them my current squawk code and asked to be informed when he had me on radar. He called me back with radar contact; and a vector and altitude to the localizer. I landed at the airport and transported the patient by ground. I should have made the decision to turn around earlier. My experience flying in the area; the forecast and the ATIS led me to believe that conditions were about to improve the further I got away from the mountains and the closer I got to my destination.

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.