In Our View for Wednesday — September 29, 2004

• Helicopter safety

Helicopter safety

The helicopter crash that’s apparently taken five lives in the mountains above the ‘Oma‘o-Kalaheo area is the fourth fatal helicopter crash since Hurricane ‘Iniki struck Kaua‘i in 1992. Many of these crashes were in areas that are spectacularly beautiful, but also woefully dangerous at times for helicopters that fly close to cliffs and mountain tops.

While helicopter tours are highlights of many visitors’ trips to Kaua‘i, many visitors are unaware of the dangers that exist in the central mountainous section of Kaua‘i that have taken lives. With most of the visitor population cycling every two weeks or so, these events and their dangers are not that well known when new waves of visitors arrive. Though the odds are likely higher that one would die in a car wreck than in a helicopter crash, it seems we’ve had too many in too short of a time span.

Helicopter-noise abatement was a major issue on Kaua‘i in the 1980s, and one that was solved by creating flight plans that except in cases of emergency due to weather or other urgent reasons keep the tour helicopters away from populated areas, or high enough where the rotors and engines of the helicopters aren’t heard.

With the National Transportation Safety Board again back on Kaua‘i to investigate the Bali Hai Helicopter Tours crash, it may be a good time to look at the danger spots where the past three helicopter crashes have occurred. Are there areas that should be avoided at all times? Are there places which should be avoided if winds are over a certain speed in the mountains? Should helicopter flights be kept out of the mountains if rainy weather threatens? While helicopter tour pilots are generally safety conscious, and take many precautions, it may be time to make these unwritten safety practices more formal.