Editorial: Hawaii’s tour-copter plan offers sound fixes

Currently, the rules and guidelines governing helicopter and fixed-wing air tours in the airspace above the islands are largely limited to those in the Hawaii Air Tour Common Procedures Manual, a Federal Aviation Administration document.

Among the rules listed is one the FAA established for Hawaii alone 25 years ago, amid a surge in popularity of tours. It requires tour aircraft to fly at least 1,500 feet away from the ground. Previously, operators could fly as low as 300 feet over populated areas — and otherwise at any altitude that would allow a safe emergency landing.

The agency maintained that for safety’s sake, the higher minimum altitude was needed to give pilots more time to react in an emergency and maneuver to a landing. In addition to that sensible reasoning, FAA had to address an escalating count in crashes. Twenty-four people had died in tour accidents in the islands in the three years preceding the 1995 rule.

Since then, the skies have been deemed safer for tours, generally; but there appears to be ample room for improvement in operational matters. Also, given the continued popularity of air tours, more clarity is needed on how to address community concerns on ground, especially disruptive noise.

Last week, Hawaii Congressman Ed Case began circulating his proposed “Safe and Quiet Skies Act,” which he intends to introduce in the U.S. House of Representatives as a means to imposing tougher regulations.

The move comes in the wake of a deadly April tour helicopter crash in a Kailua neighborhood that killed the pilot and two passengers; and a June crash at the North Shore’s Dillingham Airfield, in which 11 people aboard a skydiving plane died shortly after takeoff.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is conducting investigations, has suggested that FAA safety-related regulation of tour helicopters and small aircraft skydiving operations is insufficient in some areas.

Also rightly spurring Case to address airspace issues are long-standing complaints about decibel levels in neighborhoods near or en route to sightseeing magnets, such as over last summer’s Kilauea eruption in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Among the measure’s requirements: a ban on tour flights over national parks, national wildlife refuges and wilderness areas as well as national cemeteries and military installations; and a decibel level limit matching those commonly applied to operations in residential areas.

The FAA’s air travel regulation is largely focused on fair and safe utilization of the skies. Case’s legislation would allow states and localities to impose additional requirements — stricter than the minimum national requirements. With adequate enforcement, this provision could be a game-changer for places that see a lot of “flight-seeing” operations.

Another safety-minded provision applies the “sterile cockpit rule,” which bans tour narration, as is the rule for commercial jets, which are subject to more demanding requirements than smaller aircraft.

Also welcome is a public engagement requirement for any updates to the Air Tours Common Procedure Manual’s listing of rules and self-regulation understandings between operators and the FAA. For example, while tours are required to fly at 1,500 feet, there are honor-system exceptions due to weather conditions and other factors.

At the prodding of Legislature, which last year adopted a resolution calling for an update to Hawaii’s 2008 air tours manual, the FAA began working toward that end in tandem with a group of stakeholders led by local air tour experts and several government officials. Currently, the FAA does not require public comment, and that’s unacceptable.

Aside from strict FAA rules for runway takeoff and approach, and avoidance of flight path problems, Case contends that operators are virtually free to fly wherever, whenever and as often as they want.

While there’s absolutely no doubt that for many tour operators, flight safety and responsible operations are paramount, during an recent meeting with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s editorial board, Case said it’s apparent that some operators are falling short of good neighbor standards.

That’s easy to believe, given that air tour customers likely want up-close aerial views in addition to sweeping panoramas.

“They’re a little bit like Airbnb. Their business model is maximum flights per day at all hours to the most unique places in our country and our state … and it doesn’t matter what the impact on the ground is. They routinely violate current flight standards by flying below the altitude they’re supposed to be flying at,” Case said.

Noting that aircraft fitted with an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) transponder, which pinpoints exact aircraft location and altitude, can be tracked online at www.flightradar24.com, he added, “I have routinely seen them flying below 1,500 feet in clear skies.”

Case’s legislation, which also includes a provision requiring ADS-B equipment on all tour aircraft, has the look of a wish-list. But it also holds potential to rein in “wild west” operations and improve airspace safety.