TRACON controller described a TCAS RA and filed near midair collision involving landing air carrier ...

Narrative:

I was doing OJT on local south position. I was the instructor. A helicopter called 2 miles south at 1;500 ft wanting to land at a nearby hospital which is 2 miles north. The helicopter was flying at 160 KTS. The trainee instructed the helicopter to go northbound 1 mile west at or below 500 ft; which is the helicopter preferred routing per our LOA. The helicopter said they were unable and asked to go over the top of the airport at 1;000 ft. So the trainee said unable over the top of the airport continue northbound from present position and remain south of the final for traffic. The helicopter said they could not hold that they were on a lifeguard mission and they need to go direct to the hospital. So I keyed up and instructed the helicopter to go northbound from their present position and suggested a heading of 360 degrees at or below 1;000 ft and that I would put them through the final. The trainee issued traffic calls to the helicopter and a B190 that was on about a 5 mile final for runway 9R. The helicopter had traffic in sight and was passing behind. In the meantime; an aircraft was in position on runway 9R to depart VFR to the northeast. I instructed the trainee to clear the aircraft for take off. The trainee proceeded to issue traffic to the helicopter on the aircraft that was on final for runway 9L. The helicopter stated that they had traffic in sight and would pass behind. The final traffic was at 1;200 ft and the helicopter was at 900 ft. I had both an A320 and the helicopter in sight. I informed the tower cab that the helicopter was passing behind the landing traffic. The landing traffic informed the tower that he was responding to an RA; but was still able to land. I was later informed that the landing aircraft was going to file this incident as a near midair collision. Recommendation; all helicopters; regardless of type of flight lifeguard or not; follow airport procedures.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described a TCAS RA and filed NMAC involving landing Air Carrier traffic and an EMS helicopter passing behind to land at a near by hospital; the reporter indicated the helicopter had the landing traffic in sight.

Narrative: I was doing OJT on Local South position. I was the instructor. A helicopter called 2 miles south at 1;500 FT wanting to land at a nearby hospital which is 2 miles north. The helicopter was flying at 160 KTS. The trainee instructed the helicopter to go northbound 1 mile west at or below 500 FT; which is the helicopter preferred routing per our LOA. The helicopter said they were unable and asked to go over the top of the airport at 1;000 FT. So the trainee said unable over the top of the airport continue northbound from present position and remain south of the final for traffic. The helicopter said they could not hold that they were on a lifeguard mission and they need to go direct to the hospital. So I keyed up and instructed the helicopter to go northbound from their present position and suggested a heading of 360 degrees at or below 1;000 FT and that I would put them through the final. The trainee issued traffic calls to the helicopter and a B190 that was on about a 5 mile final for Runway 9R. The helicopter had traffic in sight and was passing behind. In the meantime; an aircraft was in position on Runway 9R to depart VFR to the northeast. I instructed the trainee to clear the aircraft for take off. The trainee proceeded to issue traffic to the helicopter on the aircraft that was on final for Runway 9L. The helicopter stated that they had traffic in sight and would pass behind. The final traffic was at 1;200 FT and the helicopter was at 900 FT. I had both an A320 and the helicopter in sight. I informed the Tower Cab that the helicopter was passing behind the landing traffic. The landing traffic informed the Tower that he was responding to an RA; but was still able to land. I was later informed that the landing aircraft was going to file this incident as a NMAC. Recommendation; all helicopters; regardless of type of flight lifeguard or not; follow airport procedures.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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	992038
Time
Date	201202
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict

TRACON controller described a TCAS RA and filed near midair collision involving landing air carrier traffic and an EMS helicopter passing behind to land at a near by hospital; the reporter indicated the helicopter had the landing traffic in sight.