Narrative:

Our service to the togiak herring fishery is to ferry passenger to their boats using an amphibious floatplane. Not knowing the exact location of the boat my 2 passenger were destined for, I had been alternating my traffic scan with looking at boat names and watching another floatplane moving on the water. This was easy to do at my cruise altitude of 600', since most boat names of the type I was looking for are painted in large letters. Various boats were scattered almost continuously between togiak and hagimiester island, but it was close to the island where I felt the particular boat I was looking for was located. Close to the island, I observed a large sign advertising the name of the boat which I was looking for. I began a descent to inspect the landing area for debris, and determine the wave height. This was not a landing approach yet, only a low inspection pass to determine the suitability of the intended landing area. At that point, I observed a helicopter Y ahead, coming toward me, and slightly above my descending flight path. I took immediate evasive action, rapidly lowering the nose of the floatplane to give the helicopter as much clearance as possible. There was not time to turn, as the floatplane is quite slow to respond in roll, and would not have been able to turn in time. I heard something lightly hit the windshield as I passed below the helicopter. Suspecting some type of contact with the helicopter, I turned to check on him, and saw that he was still aloft, but had broken ends of a cable hanging below. I subsequently landed on the water, and found nicks and cuts on the propeller, evidently caused by the cable. The top front corner of the plastic faring on top of the rudder was also broken, including the beacon light, although the rudder itself wasn't hurt. Radio contact with the helicopter was made, and he said that he had no damage or injuries; however, his 'gear' (net) was missing. He was rptedly preparing to catch fish samples with a fishing net at the bottom of a 200' cable. The cable was evidently severed by the floatplane propeller approximately 1/2 way down. The floatplane was subsequently ferried back to dillingham, ak for repairs. Contributing factors included distrs of another floatplane on step which was being watched closely for a possible conflict, and the need to watch for a particular boat, for which an exact location was not known. Also the non english speaking passenger were evidently trying to tell me that they had spotted the boat, and were quite distracting. Measures which might have helped prevent this incident would have included more use of strobes and lighting (all lighting on the floatplane was turned on). More use of the CTAF would have helped probably, although confusion exists between 2 frequencys and during actual fish spotting operations, the large # of aircraft flying over the small areas with schools of fish makes the CTAF totally ineffective. The brown-grey color of the helicopter didn't help my seeing it sooner, I believe. It was well hidden against the brown background color of the rocky island, and the numerous boats on the water in front of the island. Also, no lights were evident on the helicopter. NOTAM information on this type of activity would be helpful, although the writer is familiar with sling loads below helicopters, but with generally shorter cables.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EXPERIENCED SEAPLANE PLT HAS NMAC WITH HELICOPTER, DAMAGES ACFT ON EQUIPMENT LINE TRAINING BELOW HELICOPTER.

Narrative: OUR SVC TO THE TOGIAK HERRING FISHERY IS TO FERRY PAX TO THEIR BOATS USING AN AMPHIBIOUS FLOATPLANE. NOT KNOWING THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE BOAT MY 2 PAX WERE DESTINED FOR, I HAD BEEN ALTERNATING MY TFC SCAN WITH LOOKING AT BOAT NAMES AND WATCHING ANOTHER FLOATPLANE MOVING ON THE WATER. THIS WAS EASY TO DO AT MY CRUISE ALT OF 600', SINCE MOST BOAT NAMES OF THE TYPE I WAS LOOKING FOR ARE PAINTED IN LARGE LETTERS. VARIOUS BOATS WERE SCATTERED ALMOST CONTINUOUSLY BTWN TOGIAK AND HAGIMIESTER ISLAND, BUT IT WAS CLOSE TO THE ISLAND WHERE I FELT THE PARTICULAR BOAT I WAS LOOKING FOR WAS LOCATED. CLOSE TO THE ISLAND, I OBSERVED A LARGE SIGN ADVERTISING THE NAME OF THE BOAT WHICH I WAS LOOKING FOR. I BEGAN A DSNT TO INSPECT THE LNDG AREA FOR DEBRIS, AND DETERMINE THE WAVE HEIGHT. THIS WAS NOT A LNDG APCH YET, ONLY A LOW INSPECTION PASS TO DETERMINE THE SUITABILITY OF THE INTENDED LNDG AREA. AT THAT POINT, I OBSERVED A HELI Y AHEAD, COMING TOWARD ME, AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE MY DSNDING FLT PATH. I TOOK IMMEDIATE EVASIVE ACTION, RAPIDLY LOWERING THE NOSE OF THE FLOATPLANE TO GIVE THE HELI AS MUCH CLRNC AS POSSIBLE. THERE WAS NOT TIME TO TURN, AS THE FLOATPLANE IS QUITE SLOW TO RESPOND IN ROLL, AND WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TURN IN TIME. I HEARD SOMETHING LIGHTLY HIT THE WINDSHIELD AS I PASSED BELOW THE HELI. SUSPECTING SOME TYPE OF CONTACT WITH THE HELI, I TURNED TO CHK ON HIM, AND SAW THAT HE WAS STILL ALOFT, BUT HAD BROKEN ENDS OF A CABLE HANGING BELOW. I SUBSEQUENTLY LANDED ON THE WATER, AND FOUND NICKS AND CUTS ON THE PROP, EVIDENTLY CAUSED BY THE CABLE. THE TOP FRONT CORNER OF THE PLASTIC FARING ON TOP OF THE RUDDER WAS ALSO BROKEN, INCLUDING THE BEACON LIGHT, ALTHOUGH THE RUDDER ITSELF WASN'T HURT. RADIO CONTACT WITH THE HELI WAS MADE, AND HE SAID THAT HE HAD NO DAMAGE OR INJURIES; HOWEVER, HIS 'GEAR' (NET) WAS MISSING. HE WAS RPTEDLY PREPARING TO CATCH FISH SAMPLES WITH A FISHING NET AT THE BOTTOM OF A 200' CABLE. THE CABLE WAS EVIDENTLY SEVERED BY THE FLOATPLANE PROP APPROX 1/2 WAY DOWN. THE FLOATPLANE WAS SUBSEQUENTLY FERRIED BACK TO DILLINGHAM, AK FOR REPAIRS. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INCLUDED DISTRS OF ANOTHER FLOATPLANE ON STEP WHICH WAS BEING WATCHED CLOSELY FOR A POSSIBLE CONFLICT, AND THE NEED TO WATCH FOR A PARTICULAR BOAT, FOR WHICH AN EXACT LOCATION WAS NOT KNOWN. ALSO THE NON ENGLISH SPEAKING PAX WERE EVIDENTLY TRYING TO TELL ME THAT THEY HAD SPOTTED THE BOAT, AND WERE QUITE DISTRACTING. MEASURES WHICH MIGHT HAVE HELPED PREVENT THIS INCIDENT WOULD HAVE INCLUDED MORE USE OF STROBES AND LIGHTING (ALL LIGHTING ON THE FLOATPLANE WAS TURNED ON). MORE USE OF THE CTAF WOULD HAVE HELPED PROBABLY, ALTHOUGH CONFUSION EXISTS BTWN 2 FREQS AND DURING ACTUAL FISH SPOTTING OPS, THE LARGE # OF ACFT FLYING OVER THE SMALL AREAS WITH SCHOOLS OF FISH MAKES THE CTAF TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. THE BROWN-GREY COLOR OF THE HELI DIDN'T HELP MY SEEING IT SOONER, I BELIEVE. IT WAS WELL HIDDEN AGAINST THE BROWN BACKGROUND COLOR OF THE ROCKY ISLAND, AND THE NUMEROUS BOATS ON THE WATER IN FRONT OF THE ISLAND. ALSO, NO LIGHTS WERE EVIDENT ON THE HELI. NOTAM INFO ON THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY WOULD BE HELPFUL, ALTHOUGH THE WRITER IS FAMILIAR WITH SLING LOADS BELOW HELIS, BUT WITH GENERALLY SHORTER CABLES.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.