Rotor Wash

Dealing with prop wash or jet blast is relatively straightforward: It is directed behind the aircraft. Wingtip vortices are a bit more complicated, but still they are easy enough to visualize. Helicopter rotorwash can almost be seen as a hybrid blend of the two. A recent accident at a Colorado airport implicated the rotor wash from a Blackhawk helicopter in the pattern with a Cirrus. It did not end well for the Cirrus, which dragged a wing tip and cartwheeled while in the landing flare. The drift of rotor wash from the recently departed Blackhawk is suspected as a contributing factor.

Key Takeaways:

• Helicopter rotor wash is a complex and dangerous form of wake turbulence, implicated in a recent accident where it contributed to a Cirrus aircraft cartwheeling during landing.
• Unlike fixed-wing aircraft wake, helicopter turbulence is difficult to visualize and predict, especially during transitions like from hover to taxi.
• The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) warns that helicopters produce strong, high-speed vortices similar to large fixed-wing aircraft and advises small aircraft to maintain distance, specifically avoiding operating within three rotor diameters of a hovering helicopter.

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