Monday’s crash is latest for Robinson model

Monday’s deadly crash of a tour helicopter in Kailua is the third Hawaii copter accident this year and ninth since the beginning of last year.

It was the first fatal helicopter crash in the islands since Oct. 16, 2017, when a flight instructor and student pilot died northwest of Molokai.

Like that accident, Monday’s crash involved a Robinson R44, a model that has come under scrutiny for being in more than its share of accidents.

In Hawaii, five of the last 10 copter incidents involved a Robinson R44 — the world’s top-selling civilian helicopter, popular among sightseeing tours and flight schools.

One of those Robinson R44 accidents — operated by the same company in Monday’s crash, Novictor Helicopters — occurred Oct. 22 when a 57-year-old pilot lost consciousness during a scenic tour of Oahu, prompting one of the passengers to grab the aircraft’s controls to slow the descent before it crashed at the Kaneohe Bay sandbar.

The last helicopter crash in Hawaii occurred less than two weeks ago, when a pilot and three passengers miraculously walked away from a chopper that lost power and crashed April 16 in a remote section of Sacred Falls State Park in Hauula. That was a Hughes 369E.

Another Hughes 369E was involved in a crash in Waipio Valley on Feb. 21 as a 39-year-old pilot was seriously injured but able to walk away.

Both of the Hughes 369E helicopters were operated by K&S Helicopters, doing business as Paradise Helicopters.

“I don’t have the stats, but it seems like there’s been an upswing in helicopter crashes over the last year or so,” said Robert Moore, General Aviation Council of Hawaii board member.

Moore said the Federal Aviation Administration requires a more experienced aviator to fly the Robinson R44 because of its tricky rigid rotor system.

In addition, the model is not equipped with instruments that allow aviators to fly in stormy weather, he said. It was raining in Kailua at the time of the crash.

A November Los Angeles Times investigation found that Robinson R44s were involved in 42 fatal crashes in the U.S. from 2006 to 2016, more than any other civilian helicopter.

That translates to 1.6 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours flown — a rate nearly 50% higher than any other civilian model tracked by the FAA.

The Robinson Helicopter Co. disputed the Times’ findings, saying that the FAA undercounts flight hours for the R44, resulting in an inflated accident rate. The company asserted that its aircraft are safe and reliable when flown within their operating limits.

Moore, a veteran fixed-wing pilot who was an aircraft mechanic for 25 years in the military, said he declined to pursue his helicopter pilot’s license after his flight school had offered only a Robinson R44 to fly.

Former Aloha Airlines pilot and helicopter tour pilot Bruce Mayes said the safety record of the air tour business in Hawaii is good for the most part, considering the comprehensive regulations the industry must follow.

“When I began air tours in Waikiki in 1980, there weren’t many of us,” Mayes said. “Now on Oahu there are a half-dozen companies with six to 10 helicopters each. That’s a lot of helicopters.”

Moore said the industry’s pilots were predominantly former Vietnam War helicopter pilots, but most of them have retired.

“There’s a new breed of helicopter pilot, and they are not as experienced as they once were,” he said.