Listen Up

Last year, in the final stages of my student helicopter pilot training, I needed to complete the solo requirement of three takeoffs and landings at an airport with an operating control tower. The short cross-country to the towered airport went well. I negotiated with the tower controller to use the airports south helipad, which is near the tower and the approach end of one of the facilitys principal runways. First circuit from and back to the pad was uneventful, two trips to go.

Editorial Staff

Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A student helicopter pilot experienced severe, unexpected turbulence at 30 feet AGL during a solo landing, struggling to maintain control before safely touching down.
The turbulence was caused by wake turbulence from a heavy U.S. Air Force E-3 AWACS jet that had just performed a high-speed, low pass on a nearby runway.
The pilot learned the critical importance of actively listening to air traffic control communications and understanding the implications of other traffic, particularly heavy aircraft, to prevent dangerous encounters.

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Last year, in the final stages of my student helicopter pilot training, I needed to complete the solo requirement of three takeoffs and landings at an airport with an operating control tower. The short cross-country to the towered airport went well. I negotiated with the tower controller to use the airport’s south helipad, which is near the tower and the approach end of one of the facility’s principal runways. First circuit from and back to the pad was uneventful, two trips to go.

During the second circuit, as I was turning crosswind, I heard an inbound aircraft contact the tower. The exchange I passively heard between the inbound aircraft and the tower was something on the order of, “Air Force something, something heavy, 500 feet agl on a straight-in approach; request high-speed, low pass.” This was followed by the tower’s clearance. Knowing this airport is a base for some Air National Guard aircraft, I was not surprised by this exchange and its implications did not register in my distracted brain.