26 June 2018
Pilots are urged to take advantage of the low-cost electronic conspicuity devices following a near-miss between an R44 helicopter and a two-seat Citabria light aircraft earlier this year.
The Citabria had just taken off from a private strip and was climbing through 1600ft agl when the pilot saw the helicopter on his right and at a similar level. He took immediate avoiding action, as did the helicopter pilot who also had a late sighting.
The incident took place last March, 5nm SE of Bromyard.
The UK Airprox Board, in its latest batch of reports, says, “Neither aircraft was fitted with any form of electronic conspicuity equipment which would likely have alerted them to the presence of each other.
“Given the increasingly affordable systems such as PilotAware that were now available, they [the Board members] urged all pilots to review whether now was the time to consider investing in such relatively low-cost safety systems.
“Looking at the cause and risk of the incident, the Board determined the cause of the Airprox to be a (very) late sighting by both pilots. In assessing the risk, it was clear to all members that this had been a very close call indeed where providence had played a large part.
“Although both pilots had managed to take emergency avoiding action, members assessed that separation had still been down to the bare minimum and they therefore assessed the risk as Category A; a serious risk of collision had existed.”
