Cheetah; Tiger; Traveler AA5 Series
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 165; Flight Crew Type 30
Conflict NMAC; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Procedure
While flying in the traffic pattern practicing takeoffs and landings; a helicopter flew towards me while I was on final approach onto Runway XXR. I had been cleared touch-n-go by ZZZ Tower; the secondary tower frequency; and was approximately 400 ft. AGL on a 1 mile final.I was established on the center-line and stabilized; trying to keep the Skyhawk I was following in sight when in the corner of my eye off my left; I saw something moving low towards me which did not look like a small GA aircraft. I looked more carefully and saw a large turbine helicopter climbing and flying towards me.I immediately began a right hand turn to make sure I had adequate separation and focused my eyes on the helicopter.Once the helicopter passed off my left; I informed Tower 'That helicopter almost hit me!' Immediately after the Skyhawk behind me also informed Tower that they too had a near miss with the helicopter.Tower apologized to us for the incident; and informed us the helicopter was deviating from ATC instructions.I re-established myself in a stabilized approach and landed without incident.After parking the aircraft; I called the Tower to get their half of the story. The Shift Manager informed me they were still investigating and had no information to give me other than that the crew of the helicopter was not following instructions.I reviewed the ATC transmissions from LiveATC.net myself; and I did not find anything particularly odd leading up to the incident.In my opinion it is likely that the pilot of the helicopter is not accustomed to airports as busy as ZZZ; which typically hosts eight or more small aircraft in the traffic pattern at any given time. It is also likely the pilot of the helicopter mistakenly told ATC he wanted a 'North Departure' when he actually meant a departure direct downtown which is on a North-Westerly heading. Finally the pilot of the helicopter could have mistaken downtown as a visual reference to due north as the helicopter was instructed to fly due north by ATC leading up to the incident; and fallen victim to that illusion.Thankfully the pilots in the traffic pattern and myself were doing their due diligence while in the traffic pattern by looking for traffic; even though we were operating at a controlled airport.Special thanks to the controllers who responded quickly with an explanation and apology.
Pilot reported a near mid air collision with a helicopter while in the pattern for landing.