Hawaii helicopter tours criticized by safety board

HONOLULU -- Federal safety officials see problems with Hawaii's tour helicopter industry and are calling for tougher standards and monitoring of tour operators across the country.

Reports released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board on two Kauai helicopter crashes found both were caused by bad decisions by pilots who continued flying in dangerous weather conditions.

"The air tour industry in Hawaii serves hundreds of thousands of paying passengers each year and the public deserves an appropriate level of safety when they embark on an air tour," board chairman Mark V. Rosenker said. "It is my fervent hope that the FAA will move quickly on our recommendations."

Board recommendations for the Federal Aviation Administration include:

• Increasing surveillance of air tour operators, their maintenance policies and flight scheduling procedures.

• Requiring all tour helicopters that fly over water to be equipped with fixed or inflatable floats.

• Installing flight tracking and on-board weather technology for Hawaii air tour aircraft.

• Implementing training for new Hawaii tour pilots regarding local weather patterns.

Five people, including the pilot, were killed Sept. 24, 2004, when a helicopter operated by Bali Hai Helicopter Tours Inc. crashed into a mountain on Kauai. And three passengers drowned Sept. 23, 2005, after a helicopter operated by Heli-USA Airways Inc. plunged into the Pacific Ocean near Kauai's Na Pali Coast.

An NTSB review of eight weather-related tour helicopter crashes in Hawaii since 1994 found half of the pilots were "relatively new" to flying in the state, with three operating for less than two months. They were also inexperienced in assessing local weather conditions, which change rapidly.

Bali Hai pilots typically flew between seven or eight hours a day without lunch or bathroom breaks. Between tours, pilots would remain in the aircraft with rotors running to reduce wear on the engine.

The operational practices, while permitted under federal regulations, "likely had an adverse impact on pilot decision-making and performance," the safety board said.

It also found "significant discrepancies" with Bali Hai's aircraft maintenance procedures and logbooks. In fact, the company had never even received an FAA operations inspection because it wasn't required.

Bali Hai could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The company's listed phone number was disconnected.

The Heli-USA aircraft was on a 45-minute tour of Kauai when it crashed several hundred feet offshore and sank quickly.

Although the passengers had waist pouches containing a personal flotation vest, not all of them were able to put them on, exit the helicopter and properly inflate the device. Three people, including the pilot, survived.

Rosenker said more lives might have been spared if the aircraft had flotation equipment, recommended by the NTSB as far back as 1995.

"I am disappointed that the rule-making process once again has moved so slowly and that the final result still leaves open a real safety gap," he said.

Nigel Turner, Heli-USA's president and chief executive, said his company last year installed external inflatable floats on its helicopters even though they are still not required.

Turner said he's open to the new recommendations and emphasized that Heli-USA has safely carried more than 1 million passengers, mostly over Hawaii, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

"Helicopters are incredibly safe machines," he said. "What's fantastic with a helicopter is it can take people to sights that you would never dream you would ever see."

The Las Vegas-based carrier operates 12 helicopters, including five in Hawaii.

The FAA responding in part to crashes in Hawaii and elsewhere, announced new safety standards late last week for air tour companies. The agency promised to keep closer track of deaths and other accidents involving air tours. Safety investigators have pressed for this, having looked into 107 accidents that killed 98 people between 1988 and 1995.