Following a fatal crash on Kauai the day after Christmas,
Hawaii’s helicopter and small-aircraft tour industry is facing renewed calls
for stricter rules that could significantly alter operations, including a ban
on flights over national parks.
As tourism has steadily grown in the Aloha State in the last
decade, the number of air tours offering a glimpse of the Islands’ stunning
scenery has also soared. Prior to 2019, when three air tour crashes resulted in
21 deaths, some Hawaii residents and politicians were already calling for
regulations to limit noise pollution and other air traffic nuisances.
Then in August, following a Kailua helicopter crash that
killed three last April and a skydiving plane crash on Oahu’s North Shore that
killed 11 in June, Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) introduced the Safe and Quiet Skies
Act.
The legislation would, among other things, create a new
decibel limit for flights over residential areas, ban flying over national
parks, wilderness areas, cemeteries and military sites and forbid pilots from
acting as tour narrators -- measures industry representatives have said
would be crippling.
Several factors, Case said, have led to an untenable
situation in his view, including the rapid increase in the number of flights
and demand for more unique experiences.
“I think a mindset has taken hold in the Hawaii helicopter
tour industry where they think they can do whatever they want,” Case said. “They
don’t owe any obligation of safety or community disruption avoidance to folks
on the ground, and we should just take it. It’s the Wild West.”
A Hawaii DOT report shows 8,246 helicopter landings at
Hawaii airports in March 2019, a 67% increase over March 2010. Last year, 19 of
Oahu’s 33 neighborhood boards signed a letter calling for more regulations on
air tours that “pose increased safety risks to our communities and have
increasingly disrupted our neighborhoods and lives throughout Oahu.”
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is the most popular place for
flight tours in the entire National Park System, with 8,333 in 2018, while Maui’s
Haleakala National Park has the fourth-most flights.
“Why did we create these parks in the first place?” Case
asked. “The point is to commune with nature and preserve the environment. I
think it destroys the ambience of the parks, and they should not be flown over.”
Case added that Pearl Harbor National Memorial managers have
also voiced concerns about escalating air traffic.
On Jan. 15, a coalition of groups and agencies, including
the Hawaii Helicopter Association (which did not respond to requests for
comment), the Hawaii DOT Airports Division and the General Aviation Council of
Hawaii, announced the formation of the Hawaii Air Tour Task Force to “address
safety and noise issues related to rotor and fixed-wing aerial tours in the
state of Hawaii.”
Safari Helicopters, the tour company operating the Kauai
flight, said in a statement that it cannot comment on the crash as the
investigation is still pending. The company also suggested that Case “better
educate himself before proposing regulatory actions that are not based in
factual information and that may produce negative effects to the local economy
and its citizens.”
“The language of Congressman Case’s statements on [the Safe
and Quiet Skies Act] constitute nothing more than the use of scare tactics,”
the statement reads.
Travel advisors said there is a common consumer pattern
after a helicopter crash. First, there is a surge of calls and cancellations.
But, said Oahu-based advisor Paula Takamori, “Eventually,
things settle back to their normal booking patterns. We do not ever try to talk
anyone into going on any tour of any sort. Clients must feel comfortable with
the type of tour it is, and they know their own physical and mental
limitations.”
Case also faulted the FAA for being slow to respond to
concerns raised by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and his
legislation would also allow local jurisdictions to pass their own flight
regulations.
“Safety is the FAA’s top priority, and the FAA’s air tour
regulations include safety requirements that are specific to Hawaii operations,”
an agency spokesman said in a statement. “While we are always looking for
possible trends, we have not identified current issues of concern that are
applicable to the industry statewide.”
Out of 54 helicopter and small-aircraft accidents
investigated by the NTSB in the previous five years, nine, or 17%, occurred in
Hawaii.
Honolulu native and lawyer Roy Chang, who said he has
handled at least a half-dozen helicopter fatality or injury cases in the past
15 years, is in favor of a review of regulations and increased monitoring.
“Accidents usually come down to one of two things: pilot
error or some malfunctioning of the aircraft,” Chang said. “It shouldn’t just
be when there is a crash, and then you forget about it. Every five years or so
they should convene a group of experts and identify the problems. A lot of
issues have to do with training for various conditions and equipment
maintenance. Helicopter tours will never be 100% safe, but they can be safer.”
The NTSB’s preliminary report for the Kauai crash does not
reveal the cause but did cite a witness who said visibility was roughly 20
feet, with rain and fog. Chang said it was of particular concern that the pilot
was not instrument certified, according to the report, which is not required by
regulations.
“I think having pilots who are not instrument-rated is a big
mistake,” Chang said. “When you get to Hawaii, weather systems can come on you
very quickly, and if you can’t fly by instrument that puts everyone at risk.”