Pilot Error in Tour Crashes

The National Transportation Safety Board said some of its safety recommendations from two Hawaiian air tour accidents were not covered in the FAA's recently released 14 CFR Part 136 air tour rules.
The Board determined the probable cause in two Hawaiian air tour accidents in 2005 and 2004 was pilot error.The Board said that the 2005 Heli-USA Airways accident, which caused the deaths of three passengers and minor injuries to two others and the pilot, was caused because of “the pilot's decision to continue flight into adverse weather conditions, which resulted in a loss of control due to an encounter with a microburst." The 2004 Bali Hai Helicopter accident, which killed all aboard, when it crashed into a mountainous region, resulted from “the pilot's decision to continue flight into an area of turbulent, reduced visibility, weather conditions, which resulted in the pilot's spatial disorientation and loss of control of the helicopter." The Board cited inadequate FAA surveillance as contributing causes in the accidents and recommended that the FAA develop and enforce safety standards for all commercial air tour operators that include, at minimum, pilot training programs, special airspace restrictions, maintenance policies, and flight scheduling procedures, not part of the new rule. For a complete report see the February 19 issue of Regional Aviation News.