NASA · Aviation Safety Reporting System
BNA Tower Controller reported a helicopter passed directly underneath an air carrier that was on final approach.
What is ASRS?
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is NASA's voluntary, confidential, non- punitive incident-reporting system, established 1976. Pilots, controllers, dispatchers, and maintenance technicians file reports describing safety- relevant events. NASA de-identifies every report before adding it to the public database. Reports are not investigated by NASA, the FAA, or the NTSB — they represent the reporter's perspective.
Pilot narrative
Verbatim from the de-identified NASA record. First-person account by the
reporter. NASA strips identifying details (names, company, specific time);
anonymization placeholders are ZZZ,
X, Y.
Aircraft X was on a visual approach to Runway 2C. Aircraft Y was a non-participating VFR helicopter circumnavigating the Class C surface area enroute to ZZZ. Aircraft Y passed directly under Aircraft X about 4.5 miles from the 2C threshold. Aircraft X saw the helicopter when they were about a mile apart. The Class C airspace of BNA is not appropriate for the level of traffic that the BNA Airport serves. Near misses with non- participating VFR aircraft are a common occurrence and it is just a matter of time before a substantial event takes place. Nashville needs Class B airspace.
NASA classification — Anomalies
- ATC Issue
- Conflict
NASA classification — Assessments
- Contributing Factors / Situations
- Airspace Structure · Chart Or Publication · Environment - Non Weather Related · Human Factors · Procedure
- Primary Problem
- Airspace Structure
ASRS reports are voluntarily submitted, de-identified by NASA, and represent the reporter's perspective. The presence of reports on a topic cannot be used to infer prevalence in the National Airspace System. The authoritative source is the NASA ASRS Database Online at asrs.arc.nasa.gov ↗.