As tomorrow marks the sixth month since the island lost five lives in two helicopter crashes within the same week, answers to what happened preceding the fatal accidents could remain as much as a year away, according to the National
As tomorrow marks the sixth month since the island lost five lives in two helicopter crashes within the same week, answers to what happened preceding the fatal accidents could remain as much as a year away, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration were the government agencies heading the investigations into the Heli-USA helicopter crash that took the lives of four people and injured three in Princeville and the second crash that occurred days later, where another died and four were injured near the YMCA Camp Nauea in Ha‘ena.
Though the NTSB is taking the lead on the final accident report, the Federal Aviation Administration has conducted its own internal investigation, its spokesman, Ian Gregor, said yesterday.
Factors the FAA takes into consideration include the air worthiness of an aircraft while it was in use, whether the aircraft should have been flying and pilot competence, he said.
Other factors include an analysis of whether applicable FAA regulations were adequate and whether air traffic control performance was an issue, he said.
Neither investigation has led to any modifications in heli tour operations, as the only regulation to be recently added was set forth in February — before both crashes occurred.
Those changes were intended to bring the rest of the nation up to speed with Hawai‘i, one of the state’s leaders in air tours.
Pontoons and or life jackets have been a requirement on all air tours in the state for single-engine helicopters that travel beyond the shore of any island since February, Gregor said.
Though a hard and fast deadline hasn’t been set by NTSB, previous probable cause reports have taken up to three years to complete by government agencies.
