Allegations by a federal whistleblower accuse a Hawaii-based helicopter tour company of inadequate oversight and inappropriate relations following multiple fatal crashes — one of which resulted in the death of a Madison businesswoman and her daughter.
Amy Gannon and her daughter Jocelyn died along with five others when their Safari Aviation helicopter tour crashed onto a mountaintop on Kauai’s Na Pali Coast on Dec. 26, 2019.
The crash elicited increased scrutiny of Hawaiian helicopter tour companies and initiated a debate at the federal level about the safety of the tours.
U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, faulted the Federal Aviation Administration for not taking the National Transportation Safety Board’s efforts to improve safety seriously. He also blamed the helicopter tour industry for its lack of self-regulation, according to a Wisconsin State Journal article.
“Tour helicopter and small aircraft operations are not safe, and innocent lives are paying the price,” Case said.
Case noted that in Hawaii, helicopter tour companies have ignored recommendations to improve safety, and have increased the number of flights in recent years regardless of the time of day or the weather.
Helicopter companies also disregarded community disruption concerns and pilots began flying tourists at riskier altitudes in more remote locations as well.
In a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General Calvin Scovel III, an unidentified U.S. senator asserted it would be “next to impossible” for a Federal Aviation Administration inspector to perform adequate oversight because his managers denied his two requests to travel to Kauai and inspect Safari Aviation.
Two whistleblowers also called Novictor Aviation — a different helicopter tour company — for having an “inappropriately close relationship” with the FAA’s Hawaii field office.
One whistleblower told a Senate committee that an FAA manager let Novictor’s owner certify his own pilots for flight. In April 2019, one of the owner-certified pilots crashed a company aircraft onto a residential street in Honolulu, killing all three passengers.
According to a Jan. 24 letter from U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Novictor Aviation has been part of three crashes throughout the past two years.
Wicker’s letter also includes allegations from whistleblowers that extend beyond crashes, including Novictor managers altering investigative reports and seeking retribution against an employee who reported company issues.
The Associated Press spoke with an FAA manager on Friday who accused the whistleblower of “making up stories again.” The manager denied the allegation he underhandedly allowed Novictor’s owner to have “check airman” status to certify his own pilots.
Wicker, who has previous experience investigating FAA oversight, requested a federal investigation by the Department of Transportation.
