State needs to protect neighborhoods from tour helicopters

Last Tuesday, the state Department of Transportation-Airports Division held a public meeting in Hilo to announce another roundtable committee to discuss the impact of the helicopter tour industry on the residents of East Hawaii. Those present filled a banquet room, and scores vented their frustration, impatience, mental health impacts and anger. They noted that for decades, residential communities have had to suffer the many impacts from the daily, incessant air tours passing over their communities, from Volcano to Hakalau.

Loud voices, anger, threats, recorded flight noise, tears and pleas were aimed at representatives of the Federal Aviation Agency and state DOT-Airports. Except for one or two requesting reduced or spread-out flights over neighborhoods, most of the speakers were adamant that they wanted all tour flights to avoid residential neighborhoods altogether — and called instead for the tours to fly well offshore.

This was the most recent of numerous meetings over many years that have only perpetuated the over-flight problems and allowed ever-growing numbers of helicopters over people’s homes “all day, every day, 365 days a year.” Over some areas, numbers of up to 150 over-flights a day were noted at the meeting; countless times have been previously reported to agencies, to air tour companies and to politicians.

The only result has been more irresponsible flights and more afflicted neighborhoods. All relevant agencies have ignored residents’ quality of life over operator profits and tourists’ experience — they even get a tax break. One person described watching two helicopters narrowly averting a mid-air collision over her neighborhood, and others alluded to threats against the helicopters. Puna residents, especially, have been pushed way too far.

Guided by agency requests, air tour companies use the guise of “fly neighborly,” but instead, they just over-fly neighborhoods with reckless disregard. Why can’t the air tour companies avoid these impacts to so many East Hawaii residents and fly offshore like they presently do off North and West Hawaii? It is simply that they are externalizing some of their costs at the expense of thousands of less-wealthy East Hawaii residents because they don’t give a whit about these residents and because they have been banking on agencies to feel the same way and to continue to let them.

Answering questions just after the meeting, the FAA admitted it could only continue its feckless inaction. State DOT wants another set of meetings to find middle ground — an equivalent ineffective response.

It is time for a change — now, not after another roundtable stall tactic, not after a tragic circumstance, but right now. Cumulative danger, anger and threats have grown to an emergency situation, both for residents and for helicopters full of tourists. This deserves emergency action, right away.

State agencies have provided permissions for these helicopter tour companies to fly out of airports, to park helicopters on state land, to run heliports and landings on private land, and to ignore health consequences. These state agencies need to take emergency action to rescind those permissions and to re-issue them with strict requirements to avoid flying over or near neighborhoods and to fly off-shore routes.

Gov. David Ige: please direct them to do so. Act now — don’t take the long wait for the FAA to say again that there is nothing that the feds can do.

Rick Warshauer, a longtime Volcano resident, is a retired field biologist; he has flown countless hours in helicopters with pilots who avoided residential areas.