U.S. Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) recently proposed legislation that could virtually end the helicopter tour industry. The bill proposes strict noise limits that no current tour helicopter can meet, and further restricts flights over military installations, national parks, national cemeteries, wildlife areas, and would prohibit pilots from also narrating their tours.
Announcing his proposed bill, Case said, “My Safe and Quiet Skies Act will further mandate strict regulation of commercial air tour operations to address defense risks and community disruption, including no overflights of defense, park, cemetery, and other sensitive installations and minimum altitude maximum noise limits on all flights. Additionally, it will allow states, localities, and tribes to impose stricter regulations on tour flights in their jurisdictions, to include time, route and frequency, with required public engagement.”
His bill would severely curtail what amounts to an annual $150 million industry in Hawaii alone, and many times that nationally.