Last ones cleared by FAA Now that helicopter tours on Kaua’i are all flying again, they’re asking her if she would please send them some customers, said Tweet Coleman, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Pacific representative With visitor arrivals down substantially
Last ones cleared by FAA
Now that helicopter tours on Kaua’i are all flying again, they’re asking her if she would please send them some customers, said Tweet Coleman, the Federal Aviation Administration’s Pacific representative
With visitor arrivals down substantially since the events of Sept. 11, helicopter tours have been hurting from decreased bookings.
After the FAA closed all domestic airports for an unprecedented 48 hours following terrorist attacks and airliner hijackings in Pennsylvania, New York City and Washington, D.C., the agency decided that the resumption of flying would be way too chaotic if not phased in, explained Coleman.
After beefing up various airport and airline security procedures and allowing the major airlines to get airborne again, the FAA gave the green light to such air services as helicopter tour companies. And last Friday, Air Kaua’i Helicopter Tours and Bali Hai Helicopter Tours were among the last aerial tour services allowed to resume regular activities, Coleman said.
If pilots could file a flight plan, they were cleared to fly, she said from her Honolulu office.
Air Kaua’i, which flies out of Lihu’e Airport, and Bali Hai, which operates from Burns Field (Port Allen Airport), operate under FAA rules which allow daylight-hours flying under visual flight rules, she said. The two companies agree to fly no more than 25 miles from their origin airports, make no stops and arrive at the same airport they depart from, she said.
The FAA procedures for gradually phasing all pilots back into flying still prohibit student pilots from flying solo, though they are allowed to go up with instructor, Coleman said.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
