A National Transportation Safety Board investigation into a 2019 tour helicopter crash in a Kailua neighborhood concluded that the pilot flew into stormy weather at a higher-than-recommended speed, an action that led to the aircraft’s failure and fatal plunge from the sky.

The pilot and his two passengers died April 29, 2019, in the fiery crash that left a mangled wreck on busy Oneawa Street.

The final report by the NTSB says the Robinson R44 helicopter operated by Novictor Helicopters, now called Rainbow Helicopters, encountered heavy rain, turbulence and likely a strong downdraft, or wind shift, that led to the main rotor hitting the fuselage and the aircraft falling apart as it fell to the ground.

The report comes as the NTSB is finalizing its conclusion about a separate 2019 crash in which a pilot and all six passengers, including three children, were killed after a tour helicopter flew into stormy weather on Kauai.

During a meeting Tuesday, the NTSB criticized the Federal Aviation Administration for failing to implement its safety recom- mendations, which contributed to the Dec. 26, 2019, crash of the Airbus AS350 B2 helicopter operated by Safari Aviation.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-­Hawaii, agreed, saying the FAA’s failure to provide adequate regulatory oversight of the helicopter tour industry contributed to both fatal crashes in 2019.

Case said the lenient culture of the FAA has allowed the air tour industry to often cut corners and engage in reckless conduct in Hawaii.

“It’s a toxic mix, and this was the tragic result,” he said.

Case’s proposed Safe and Quiet Skies Act, which remains in committee, would require the FAA to adopt NTSB recommendations.

In the Kailua crash, the air tour left Daniel K. Inouye International Airport for an island tour but encountered deteriorating visibility on the Windward side, according to the final NTSB report.

Witnesses near the crash site told investigators they heard the helicopter in the clouds and it sounded as if it was quite low, the report said. They described the sound of metal hitting metal and saw pieces of the aircraft falling from the sky.

Other witnesses reported they heard the helicopter overhead but did not look up until they heard an odd noise followed by a loud metallic bang. One witness reported he saw the helicopter pitch forward, tilt to one side and then nosedive. He also saw a piece of the rotor blade fall away from the aircraft, which appeared to stop in midair and then free-fall.

The Robinson R44 was equipped with a two-bladed, semi-rigid rotor system, a design that is susceptible to excessive rotor blade flapping during periods of wind-caused weightlessness or when the pilot commits “improper application of control inputs,” the NTSB report said.

Excessive rotor blade flapping can result in main rotor contact with the fuselage. A manufacturer safety notice says, in part, that when flying in turbulence the helicopter should be slowed below a normal cruise speed to around 60 to 70 knots. But the pilot in this case was flying at 92 knots or faster, the report said.

The pilot, Joseph Berridge, was hired by the company from New Mexico only 2-1/2 weeks before the crash, according to the report.

Berridge, 28, completed company training 10 days before the ill-fated tour flight, then completed one week of tour-specific training. He began taking passengers on tours only three days before the fatal accident.

While inexperience may have played a role in the Kailua tragedy, that was not the case on Kauai.

Safari’s 69-year-old chief pilot Paul Matero flew into a mountainous region near the Na Pali Coast that was shrouded in low clouds and fog before he either lost control or flew into terrain he wasn’t able to see, according to the NTSB.

Shortly before the planned 50-minute tour of the island, low clouds and rain moved onshore from the northwest, and the NTSB identified three other air tour pilots who saw the weather and diverted their tours.

Investigators said Matero’s decision to continue flying into deteriorating visibility was likely influenced by either a lack of up-to-the-minute weather information, a misjudgment or overconfidence in his flying abilities.

As a result of previous fatal aviation accidents involving limited weather information and flawed in-flight weather assessments, the NTSB in 2007 recommended that the FAA develop and require specialized weather training for air tour operators in Hawaii.

In the Kauai case, NTSB investigators said the FAA’s failure to implement that recommendation deprived the pilot of training that could have given him the tools to better recognize and avoid hazardous weather conditions.

“The NTSB previously made 11 recommendations to the FAA to prevent accidents like this one, but our recommendations only work when they are implemented. It’s time for the FAA to act,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said Tuesday.

Asked to respond, the FAA said it takes NTSB recommendations seriously.

“Already, the FAA has installed five weather cameras in Hawaii with 21 more coming,” the FAA said in a statement.