Narrative:

I was piloting a news helicopter. I was dispatched to fly to an area to provide aerial news coverage of a fatal auto accident. After I determined that the location was in the area of eqy; I radioed my position; altitude and intentions on CTAF several miles out. I was also in communication with another news helicopter on our common helicopter frequency as he was enroute to the same scene just a few miles behind me. I arrived at the accident location and established a slow right hand orbit at 1300 feet MSL. There were two other fixed wing aircraft in the area and I established visual contact with them and stated my position and intention. Five minutes later; I established visual contact with the other news helicopter as he arrived on the scene. He had also made all appropriate radio position calls enroute. I told the pilot of the other helicopter that both fixed wing aircraft in the area were no longer a factor as one had landed and the other had departed. He then established a right hand orbit on scene at 1700 MSL. Over the course of the next 30 minutes; the two news helicopters maintained constant position and altitude in a slow right hand orbit while providing aerial video of the accident scene for our respective news stations. During this time; several aircraft were taking off and or landing at the nearby airport. As we knew that we were positioned near the pattern for the operational runway 5; both pilots were diligent in announcing our position and communicating our intentions with each aircraft in the pattern. Visual and radio contact was made with each and every aircraft in the local area. I recall communicating with a piper aircraft and a few other aircraft in the pattern; including a jet arriving and landing from a base leg. All aircraft in the area were operating safely and without incident; one aircraft even commented in response to the local radio calls that he 'wished drivers on the highway were as courteous as the pilots were.' most aircraft in the pattern were turning inside of our position for the base leg to runway 5 with no problem. Approximately a half hour after I arrived a third news helicopter arrived at the scene and joined in right hand orbits with the two other helicopters on scene. Fifteen minutes later that that aircraft left the area. A short while later a C172 was in the airport traffic area and the pilot commented that 'the news helicopters needed to vacate the area' as he thought that they were interfering with the local pattern. He accomplished at least one complete pattern at eqy with the news helicopters in their established position. The skyhawk made another comment that 'whatever the news helicopters were covering was not important enough to be operating near the airport.' he then asked how long the helicopters were going to be in area. I responded that we would be departing shortly. The skyhawk then turned on the downwind leg and I reported our position and established visual contact. As the aircraft moved closer to our position; the other helicopter pilot made a radio call to me asking if I had the skyhawk in sight. I responded that I did. I thought that the skyhawk would be making a close pass to the outside of us and then turn on his base leg after passing. While maintaining visual contact with the aircraft and in a near hover I saw the skyhawk turn directly toward us. The aircraft passed directly over us with vertical separation of no more than 50 to 100 feet. I called the other helicopter and asked if he had witnessed the event and he said that he had.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A news helicopter pilot covering an auto accident near EQY reported an intentional near miss with a C172 whose pilot was irritated by the helicopter's presence.

Narrative: I was piloting a news helicopter. I was dispatched to fly to an area to provide aerial news coverage of a fatal auto accident. After I determined that the location was in the area of EQY; I radioed my position; altitude and intentions on CTAF several miles out. I was also in communication with another news helicopter on our common helicopter frequency as he was enroute to the same scene just a few miles behind me. I arrived at the accident location and established a slow right hand orbit at 1300 feet MSL. There were two other fixed wing aircraft in the area and I established visual contact with them and stated my position and intention. Five minutes later; I established visual contact with the other news helicopter as he arrived on the scene. He had also made all appropriate radio position calls enroute. I told the pilot of the other helicopter that both fixed wing aircraft in the area were no longer a factor as one had landed and the other had departed. He then established a right hand orbit on scene at 1700 MSL. Over the course of the next 30 minutes; the two news helicopters maintained constant position and altitude in a slow right hand orbit while providing aerial video of the accident scene for our respective news stations. During this time; several aircraft were taking off and or landing at the nearby airport. As we knew that we were positioned near the pattern for the operational Runway 5; both pilots were diligent in announcing our position and communicating our intentions with each aircraft in the pattern. Visual and radio contact was made with each and every aircraft in the local area. I recall communicating with a Piper aircraft and a few other aircraft in the pattern; including a jet arriving and landing from a base leg. All aircraft in the area were operating safely and without incident; one aircraft even commented in response to the local radio calls that he 'wished drivers on the highway were as courteous as the pilots were.' Most aircraft in the pattern were turning inside of our position for the base leg to Runway 5 with no problem. Approximately a half hour after I arrived a third news helicopter arrived at the scene and joined in right hand orbits with the two other helicopters on scene. Fifteen minutes later that that aircraft left the area. A short while later a C172 was in the airport traffic area and the pilot commented that 'the news helicopters needed to vacate the area' as he thought that they were interfering with the local pattern. He accomplished at least one complete pattern at EQY with the news helicopters in their established position. The Skyhawk made another comment that 'whatever the news helicopters were covering was not important enough to be operating near the airport.' He then asked how long the helicopters were going to be in area. I responded that we would be departing shortly. The Skyhawk then turned on the downwind leg and I reported our position and established visual contact. As the aircraft moved closer to our position; the other helicopter pilot made a radio call to me asking if I had the Skyhawk in sight. I responded that I did. I thought that the Skyhawk would be making a close pass to the outside of us and then turn on his base leg after passing. While maintaining visual contact with the aircraft and in a near hover I saw the Skyhawk turn directly toward us. The aircraft passed directly over us with vertical separation of no more than 50 to 100 feet. I called the other helicopter and asked if he had witnessed the event and he said that he had.

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.