Intercepted or a Visit From the Expanded Aerial Emergency Services.

On the flight yesterday morning, about 10 minutes after takeoff, the aerial wing of the expanded emergency service showed up. My flight was intercepted by a Border Patrol helicopter which came from behind and passed over and close by the right wingtip. I responded by calling on the air to air frequency to make contact and ask them to stand off but received no response. Wake turbulence from helicopters can be unpredictable and could affect the flight path of a weight shift light sport aircraft. Fortunately, the helicopter made a single pass then started to head off. I only managed to get a single photograph of the departing helicopter since I was busy first trying to first contact them, then getting the camera out and turned on. What is interesting is the speed at which they showed up. I was 40 miles from Lordsburg, the closest facility with avgas so they were either already in the area at 7:00 AM or they are hiding the helicopter somewhere down in the bootheel. In either event it is good to have someone watching your back. I will test the hypothesis that they are parking the helicopter somewhere down here by flying again in the early morning and see if they quickly show up. If they are down here with the helicopter I would expect them to show up at least once every flight in the bootheel.


Departing Border Patrol helicopter