Editorial

Beyond Noise: Helicopters Threaten Health, Welfare, and Wildlife

Hardly anyone would deny that helicopter tours have become a nuisance on the Big Island and on Maui. They used to be a bother on Kaua’i, too, but Hurricane ‘Iniki largely put an end to that. (Kaua’i’s loss was the Big Island’s gain, with many of Kauai’s helicopter operators relocating to Hawai’i.)

Just how many helicopters fly the skies is not known precisely. In 1989, the state estimated that about 40 helicopter companies, together owning some 90 helicopters, were operating in the state. The Hawai’i Helicopter Operators Association reported a year later that there were 30 tour helicopter operators statewide, flying 80 aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that today, on the Big Island alone, there are about 13 operators, flying between 15 and 20 aircraft. State records indicate that 30 or more tour helicopters may be based on the Big Island.

Whatever the total, for the people living under the regular flight routes, there are too many helicopters, flying at altitudes that brush the tree tops, rattle the dishes, scare the stock, invade privacy and shatter to smithereens the peace and quiet that residents had expected to find by living in some of the state’s remotest quarters.

The problem long ago surpassed the level of a nuisance. Today it represents a health threat to some people; to others, an invasion of their rights to privacy; for still more, tangible material losses. Beyond that, helicopter flights over wilderness areas may well pose a risk to many species of endangered Hawaiian forest birds.

Fraternal Association of Aviators

The Federal Aviation Association has been nothing if not zealous in its pursuit of its mandate to “promote” the aviation industry Helicopter operators, especially go with the FAA’s blessing anywhere their aircraft can take them, so long as minimal safety regulations and conditions of their certificates are observed. Regulations to control noise extend no farther than 4,000 feet from the boundaries of public airports. Beyond that, noise is not their concern, FAA officials say, and safety considerations are the sole justification for agency intervention.

And, they add, if they don’t intervene, no one else can, either. However serious problems associated with helicopter operations become, however much local and state officials might want to see things change, the FAA claims that it alone has authority to take measures that might restrict the rights of aviators.

Time’s up. If it takes an act of Congress to get the FAA to be more sensitive to the rights of citizens other than aviators, so be it. The chumminess of the FAA fraternity has gone on long enough. The FAA has created a regulatory system that makes enforcement all but impossible. The identification numbers that people have to report to the agency as a first step in enforcement actions need be no higher than three inches – not feet, but inches! Even when the numbers can be sported, allegations of wrong-doing must involve a safety infraction. With the FAA setting no minimum altitudes for helicopter flights, providing evidence of safety infractions is difficult at best.

The FAA, at Patsy Mink’s prodding, has set up – in Honolulu – an AirTour Surveillance Team, whose purpose is to monitor helicopter traffic mainly on the Big Island. It boasts that recently it has launched up to six inquiries into possible infractions by helicopter operators of safety rules. But the investigations will take time, and it may be months before enforcement actions are begun. Until they are concluded, and all appeals are exhausted, the FAA will not release the names of the operators under investigation, citing concerns for their privacy.

The legislation introduced by Patsy Mink may, if enacted, be a step in the right direction. However, it does nor go far enough. What is required is nothing less than a revision of the FAA’s very charter. Safety is not the only matter to be considered when people take to the air. Noise, privacy, and impact on the environment (including endangered species and preservation of wilderness qualities) deserve equal billing. The hour is at hand to turn the FAA around, to move it from the role of cheerleader into a new role as guardian of the public’s interest in the regulation of air traffic of all kinds.

Safety First?

Even absent a change in federal legislation, it’s still a fair question to ask why the FAA has done so little to enhance the safety of the tour helicopter industry in Hawai’i. Given that many of the flights on the Big Island and Maui go over water, it would only make sense to equip aircraft with personal floatation devices, if not pontoons.

The FAA might also consider adopting regulations that would make identification of helicopters easier. The Hawai’i State Helicopter System Plan acknowledged the difficulty the public had in identifying low-flying aircraft. It recommended that the state Department of Transportation adopt its own identifying system, which, it stated, “is not expressly prohibited by federal regulations and has been implemented in other states.” The new markings would be painted on the aircraft’s underside and in letters and numerals at least two feet high. The idea has been revived by members of the public lately. Some residents have suggested assigning each helicopter operator a three letter designation, which would become a prefix for the identifying number assigned to each aircraft owned by that operator.

One thing is clear (even if the numbers are not): Until it becomes easier for aircraft to be identified by members of the public, the public will have every right to believe that the FAA has no interest in tracking down helicopters that may be flying in violation of FAA rules.

Perceptions that the FAA is less than vigorous in its pursuit of violators are not without consequence. Among helicopter operators, such perceptions foster the kind of cowboy behavior that leads to loss of property and even life.

After a fatal crash of an airplane on Maui last year, the National Transportation Safety Board weighed in with a report recommending that the FAA adopt special flight rules for Hawai’i precisely because so many of the state’s attractions held unusual dangers. “The safety board believes that the FAA should identify airspace that is subject to commercial air activity and that may require special air traffic procedures for environmental protection or to reduce the potential for midair collision,” its report on the Maui accident said.

While we would add a proviso concerning the hazards of flight through volcanic fumes, the NTSB recommendations are on the money. Will the FAA adopt them?

Environmental Impacts

Low-flying helicopters have an impact on wildlife. Just how great that impact is, no one knows.

Will we ever find out?

One way to know the impact is to wait until nature shows us. There’s a drawback to this approach. By the time the problem is recognized, the time has long passed for action to head it off.

Another way, one enshrined in state and federal law, is for those who are causing the impact to prepare an environmental impact statement, fully disclosing any and all possible effects that their behavior may have on the environment.

The state requires preparation of either an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement whenever helicopter facilities are proposed. To date, however, the environmental assessments done for these projects have dealt with only that environment that lies in the immediate vicinity of the heliport or helipad. Before any more helicopter facilities are permitted, the environmental assessments or EISes for them should be required to address the total impacts, including those on endangered birds, on federally protected wilderness areas, on state wild lands, and on residential neighborhoods.

A Slip-up In Quality Control

It has been brought to our attention that some copies of the April edition of Environment Hawai’i were mis-printed and do not contain pages 5 through 8. If you received one of these, please let us know and we’ll be happy to send a replacement copy, free of charge. (Let us know quickly; our supply of replacements is limited, and if it runs out, a photocopy of the missing pages will be the best we can provide.)

Et Cetera

Environment Hawai’i has relocated to Hilo, Hawai’i. Until we have a permanent address for mail, please continue to send all mail to our Bishop Street address.

Should you wish to reach us by telephone, our number in Hilo is (area code 808) 934-0115. We have no facsimile machine yet, but hope to have one soon.

As a 501(c)(3) corporation, Environment Hawai’i‘s required to complete Form 990 for the Internal Revenue Service. We also are required to make this available to interested members of the public. This form summarizes income and expenditures for the previous year. If anyone would like to see a copy, please send us your request along with a stamped, self addressed envelope.

Volume 3, Number 11 May 1993