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A helicopter company owner is accusing U.S. Rep. Ed Case of making false and inflammatory statements about the tour helicopter industry being unsafe and ignoring safety improvements.
“Well, that’s not true at all,” said Richard Schuman, owner of Magnum Helicopters, at a news conference Friday.
Case (D-Hawaii) reiterated his criticism of tour helicopters as well as the small- aircraft industry in the aftermath of the deadly Dec. 26 helicopter crash that killed six passengers and a pilot in Kokee, Kauai.
Magnum Helicopters was not involved in Kauai’s helicopter crash.
A Eurocopter AS-350 B2 operated by Safari Helicopters struck a ridge at an altitude of 2,900 feet and then fell about 100 feet. The aircraft caught fire upon impact.
Two families from Wisconsin and Switzerland and the pilot, Paul Matero, 69, of Wailua, were killed in the crash.
The passengers were identified as 47-year-old Amy Gannon and 13-year-old daughter Jocelyn Gannon of Madison, Wis., and 50-year-old Sylvie Winteregg, 49-year-old Christophe Winteregg, 13-year-old Alice Wintereggg and 10-year-old Agathe Winteregg of Switzerland.
An investigative team of the National Transportation Safety Board is continuing its probe into the crash.
The Kauai crash was the second deadly tour helicopter crash in Hawaii in 2019. In April a helicopter operated by Novictor Helicopters crashed on a roadway in a Kailua neighborhood, killing two passengers and the pilot.
Case also recently stated that pilots are pressured to fly in marginal conditions. According to Schuman, pilots have the discretion to not fly if there are adverse weather conditions and that there is no pressure from management or ground personnel.
Case introduced legislation in September to bring more stringent restrictions to both tour helicopters and small-aircraft operations.
The bill is pending in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Schuman said he doesn’t think more regulations are necessary. “I don’t believe that the government needs to be more involved in what we do. I can tell you owner- operators are very serious about the safety of their organizations.”
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