Helicopter
Flight Crew Commercial
Situational Awareness
Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Procedure; Environment - Non Weather Related; Aircraft
I was flight following with NorCal at 2;500 FT. I was advised by NorCal to immediately climb to 3;000 FT to avoid a collision with a fixed wing aircraft at my same altitude approaching from my 10:30 direction. I immediately complied and leveled off at 3;000 FT and the fixed wing flew below me. I feel if it hadn't been for NorCal's services; this could have been catastrophic. The fixed wing blended into the background of the mountains and given the time of day; it was impossible to detect that fixed wing. Although my helicopter is equipped with TIS; it doesn't operate in the majority of areas we service. TIS works off of the Mode S traffic system; the Central Valley doesn't have that system in place except in the San Francisco/Bay Area. Located near my home base there is a flight school with quite a few foreign student pilots; their English is basic and hard to understand. With the Tower closings and the amount of traffic that flies in the Valley; it's just a matter of time before we do have a major mishap. My solution to this increasing problem of traffic avoidance is to replace our existing TIS with a TCAS III (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) and second; require every our pilots operating in these high dense traffic areas to flight follow with NorCal.
The reporter stated that in his twenty-three years as a helicopter pilot he has seen too many events such as this which do not get reported. He believes that the near miss situation is becoming more likely with the San Joaquin Valley traffic volume increase; not just student pilots but others not utilizing flight following or talking with Towered airports. Making TIS available in the Valley would help.
A helicopter pilot flying south of San Joaquin; CA reported that a NCT traffic alert prevented a near miss; but increased Valley traffic volume has created the near miss potential for aircraft equipped with only TIS.