WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, reintroduced his Safe and Quiet Skies Act on Tuesday, renewing his effort to impose strict safety regulations on commercial air tour operations.

What You Need To Know

  • Case first introduced the measure in 2021. It was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and subsequently the Subcommittee on Aviation but did not receive a hearing

  • House Resolution 1071 would direct the Federal Aviation Administration to adopt tighter safety standards on helicopters and small planes, as recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board

  • The measure would further authorize state and local governments to restrict the operation of commercial tour aircraft to address noise and other community disruption

  • The bill is being reintroduced just as Congress takes up reauthorization of the FAA

 

Case first introduced the measure in 2021. It was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and subsequently the Subcommittee on Aviation but did not receive a hearing.

House Resolution 1071 would direct the Federal Aviation Administration to adopt tighter safety standards on helicopters and small planes, as recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board following numerous fatal crashes around the country.

The measure would further authorize state and local governments to restrict the operation of commercial tour aircraft to address noise and other community disruption.

“My Hawaii is but one example of these worsening concerns nationwide,” Case said. “For too many years, Hawaii has seen deadly crashes of commercial air tour helicopters, including in residential neighborhoods, and far too many dead from the crashes of commercial skydiving planes.”

Case noted that the NTSB “suggested strongly and directly” to the FAA that regulation of commercial tour helicopters and small aircraft skydiving operations is “generally insufficient.”

The NTSB recommendations followed a string of fatal crashes in Kailua, Oahu; the Na Pali Coast on Kauai; and Dillingham Air Field on Oahu.

“These tragedies occurred amidst a rapid increase in commercial helicopter and small plane overflights of all parts of Hawaii, including residential, commercial and industrial neighborhoods, cemeteries and memorials, land and marine parks and other recreation areas, and sensitive military installations,” Case said. “These have disrupted whole communities with excessive noise and other impacts, destroyed the peace and sanctity of special places, increased risk to not only passengers but those on the ground, and weakened security and management of defense operations.

“Clearly the FAA should now follow the NTSB’s lead before any more lives are lost and clearly Congress must act to protect lives and property and to allow communities to regulate against unacceptable disruption if, as is clear, the FAA will not,” Case said.

The bill is being reintroduced just as Congress takes up reauthorization of the FAA.

The bill was co-introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee; Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., the senior Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which the bill was referred and which will address FAA reauthorization; Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., the ranking member of the House Small Business Committee; and Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Calif.; Dan Goldman, D-N.Y.; and Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii.

“Last year, nearly eight thousand commercial air tours flew over national parks of New York Harbor Management Unit sites, which include national treasures like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island,” Nadler said. “The large volume of commercial air tours over these sites are increasingly unsafe and create substantial quality of life issues for New Yorkers and tourists alike through noise and environmental impacts. I have repeatedly called on the FAA to impose additional regulations to address this issue. Not only has the FAA failed to act, they recently agreed to a new Voluntary Agreement with helicopter tour operators that makes the situation worse.”

Case and Norton are members of the Quiet Skies Caucus, which seeks to address aircraft noise.

Case said the proposed legislation would address defense risks by prohibiting flights over defense, national parks and cemeteries, and other sensitive installations.

The 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill provided $19 billion for the FAA, including $1.6 billion for aviation safety and additional funding for the agency’s community engagement capacity, which Case requested. The bill also requires the FAA to make public aggregated information about noise complaints.

Under the Safe and Quiet Skies Act, tour flights would be required to fly above the 1,500-foot altitude (with limited exceptions for emergencies and takeoff/landing and limit noise to no greater than 55 dbA when flying over residential, commercial and recreational areas.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii.