Tower controller described a conflict between a VFR helicopter departure and an IFR arrival; the rep...

Narrative:

I was working local control (local control); helicopter called and asked for VFR departure to the northeast. I gave him the standard; maintain VFR at or below 40; departure frequency; squawk assigned. The helicopter read back correctly. General aviation ramp is behind local control position about 1/2 NM. Since the helicopter did not request take off clearance; I did not look to see where they were on the ramp. Those of us in the tower were discussing a new procedure implemented in the tower recently when an arrival was switched over from radar to local control; I glanced at the d-brite and noticed that the helicopter was going to be a conflict with the arrival. I obtained the helicopter's position and immediately issued traffic. Both aircraft saw each other and passed after conflict alert (ca/ca's) went off. Advise aircraft to call when ready at end of clearance and scan entire airport more frequently.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described a conflict between a VFR helicopter departure and an IFR arrival; the reporter noting increases vigilance and improved scanning on his part may have prevented this occurrence.

Narrative: I was working Local Control (LC); Helicopter called and asked for VFR departure to the NE. I gave him the standard; maintain VFR at or below 40; departure frequency; squawk assigned. The helicopter read back correctly. General Aviation Ramp is behind LC position about 1/2 NM. Since the helicopter did not request take off clearance; I did not look to see where they were on the ramp. Those of us in the Tower were discussing a new procedure implemented in the Tower recently when an arrival was switched over from RADAR to LC; I glanced at the D-Brite and noticed that the helicopter was going to be a conflict with the arrival. I obtained the helicopter's position and immediately issued traffic. Both aircraft saw each other and passed after Conflict Alert (CA/CA's) went off. Advise aircraft to call when ready at end of clearance and scan entire airport more frequently.

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.

Attributes
ACN	969372
Time
Date	201109
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Tower
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural FAR

Tower controller described a conflict between a VFR helicopter departure and an IFR arrival; the reporter noting increases vigilance and improved scanning on his part may have prevented this occurrence.