A helicopter pilot; performing an autorotation reported narrowly missing a C172 as it passed under o...

Attributes
ACN	1352105
Time
Date	201604
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Kiowa/Kiowa Warrior/Combat Scout
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Trainee
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 70 Flight Crew Total 2800 Flight Crew Type 35
Events
Anomaly	Conflict NMAC
Miss Distance	Horizontal 0 Vertical 15

Narrative:

My CFI and I were on a short final autorotation to runway 5. We made our radio calls from right downwind; base and final. We did not hear any aircraft on final for runway 5. As we descended on our autorotation approaching the runway; a white cessna 172 came underneath us heading the same direction and landed on runway 5. We made evasive action to the south of the runway and paralleled the cessna. We identified the airplane as an airplane owned by the local FBO. We landed at our hangar and made a radio call on the local CTAF if anyone had heard the cessna make a call for final runway 5. No other aircraft on the field heard a radio call of an airplane on final. We shut down our helicopter and drove to the FBO to make contact with the pilot of the cessna. The pilot of the cessna was a student pilot that was returning from a failed checkride at another airport. The student admitted that he had his radio tuned to the wrong CTAF frequency. The student also stated that he did not see our helicopter even though he landed with us less than 100 feet above him on runway 5. It was determined that the student pilot was at fault for failing to monitor proper frequency and for failing to see and avoid during landing phase.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A helicopter pilot; performing an autorotation reported narrowly missing a C172 as it passed under on short final. It was discovered later that the C172 student pilot was returning from a failed check ride and was not using the correct CTAF nor did he ever see the helicopter.

Narrative: My CFI and I were on a short final autorotation to runway 5. We made our radio calls from right downwind; base and final. We did not hear any aircraft on final for runway 5. As we descended on our autorotation approaching the runway; a white Cessna 172 came underneath us heading the same direction and landed on runway 5. We made evasive action to the south of the runway and paralleled the Cessna. We identified the airplane as an airplane owned by the local FBO. We landed at our hangar and made a radio call on the local CTAF if anyone had heard the Cessna make a call for final runway 5. No other aircraft on the field heard a radio call of an airplane on final. We shut down our helicopter and drove to the FBO to make contact with the pilot of the Cessna. The pilot of the Cessna was a student pilot that was returning from a failed checkride at another airport. The student admitted that he had his radio tuned to the wrong CTAF frequency. The student also stated that he did not see our helicopter even though he landed with us less than 100 feet above him on runway 5. It was determined that the student pilot was at fault for failing to monitor proper frequency and for failing to see and avoid during landing phase.

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.