<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1287876, August 2015

Private pilot observing from the ground; reports a near midair collision between an R44 helicopter and a drone during a visual approach to runway 13 or 14 at stp. The drone was hovering near the base leg of the VFR traffic pattern and 100 feet above the helicopter.

Attributes
ACN	1287876
Time
Date	201508
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	STP.Airport
State Reference	MN
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	UAV - Unpiloted Aerial Vehicle
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Robinson R44
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Person 1
Function	Observer
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 0 Flight Crew Total 135 Flight Crew Type 120
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC Deviation - Procedural FAR
Miss Distance	Horizontal 100 Vertical 100

Narrative:

I was a pilot on the ground in battle creek park approximately 1 mile east of stp. I noticed a drone hovering on the base leg VFR approach to runways 13 and 14 due north of my position and at the same altitude that a R44 helicopter was operating that day. This is not a good place to be operating a drone. I've flown this approach to stp in the past in a helicopter; and I don't want to hit a drone coming into land at stp. The R44 helicopter I saw was lower than the drone was today.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Private pilot observing from the ground; reports a NMAC between an R44 helicopter and a drone during a visual approach to Runway 13 or 14 at STP. The drone was hovering near the base leg of the VFR traffic pattern and 100 feet above the helicopter.

Narrative: I was a pilot on the ground in Battle Creek Park approximately 1 mile east of STP. I noticed a drone hovering on the base leg VFR approach to Runways 13 and 14 due north of my position and at the same altitude that a R44 helicopter was operating that day. This is not a good place to be operating a drone. I've flown this approach to STP in the past in a helicopter; and I don't want to hit a drone coming into land at STP. The R44 helicopter I saw was lower than the drone was today.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.