Kauai Accident

john4surf

Kelly Slater status
May 28, 2005
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CBS, CA
National news reported a tourist helicopter crashed on the island. Search and rescue finally located the site. Loss of liVes including kids. Very sad. I hope PPK wasn’t a first responder. Tragic.
 

Subway

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 31, 2008
13,497
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LBNY
so sad, saw that news break too. Rip...

all my trips to Kauai, those chopper tours for whatever reason always gave me the no go vibe. And I’ve flown in a helicopter before (without pause or foreboding, but with childlike glee and exhilaration) so there is no sound logic that I know of for my Kauai-specific fear of chopper crashes.. but it seems to happen every few years, with what seem like near Everest casualty numbers (not proportionally of course)
 
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ShiverMeTimbers

Rabbitt Bartholomew status
Mar 21, 2006
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Gig Harbor
www.peistcharters.com
Often the pilots of helicopter tours are trying to gain hours, so they're not very experienced. When I was working on the Sunrise Powerlink and flying helos 3x/week, a couple of the pilots I flew with told me stories about Hawaiian tour pilots not knowing the terrain as well as they should, or misjudging a cloud's placement on the landscape and flying right into a cliff at 100mph.

The tour pilots are often trying to gain hours so they can fly crews to the oil rigs in the Gulf or do power line work, as the pay is much higher.

RIP, sorry to hear about this tragedy.
 
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sponge

Tom Curren status
Feb 10, 2002
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Honolulu, HI, USA
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HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Remains of six of the seven people onboard a helicopter that crashed on its way back from a sightseeing tour of the Na Pali Coast have been recovered, and the search for the seventh victim is set to resume Saturday, officials confirmed in a news conference...
 

crustBrother

Kelly Slater status
Apr 23, 2001
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all my trips to Kauai, those chopper tours for whatever reason always gave me the no go vibe
I've only been to Kauai one time and its the only time I've flown in a chopper. I don't like helicopters. Crazy contraptions require so much maintenance they clearly are not meant to be airborne. But the pilot was a vietnam vet, so I figured I was unlikely to ever get a ride with a more experienced pilot. Fun ride.
 

Will there be snacks

Miki Dora status
Mar 18, 2011
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Hotel Coral Essex
Every person I know who's been in a helicopter has said the pilot was a vietnam vet. Wonder if that is just something they all say.

I've definitely got the no go vibe on the helicopter tour too, but it must be really beautiful.
 

jkb

Tom Curren status
Feb 22, 2005
10,042
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Central California
What a nightmare.

I've gone on those Kauai helicopter tours 3x. Each time it's pretty unnerving, but unbelievably beautiful.
 

GromsDad

Duke status
Jan 21, 2014
54,153
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West of the Atlantic. East of the ICW.
Often the pilots of helicopter tours are trying to gain hours, so they're not very experienced. When I was working on the Sunrise Powerlink and flying helos 3x/week, a couple of the pilots I flew with told me stories about Hawaiian tour pilots not knowing the terrain as well as they should, or misjudging a cloud's placement on the landscape and flying right into a cliff at 100mph.

The tour pilots are often trying to gain hours so they can fly crews to the oil rigs in the Gulf or do power line work, as the pay is much higher.

RIP, sorry to hear about this tragedy.
Was watching a helocopter crew do power line work a couple of weeks ago. Never seen it in person before. Holy Fuk that is nuts. How much do they pay the guy hanging from the chopper?
 
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ShiverMeTimbers

Rabbitt Bartholomew status
Mar 21, 2006
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Gig Harbor
www.peistcharters.com
Was watching a helocopter crew do power line work a couple of weeks ago. Never seen it in person before. Holy Fuk that is nuts. How much do they pay the guy hanging from the chopper?
The linemen who step off the skid and onto the tower? My guess is $50 or $60/hr but I made it a policy not to talk about wages on the worksite, because one or both people walk away unhappy. I know they were making more than me, rightfully so.

Here is a video of the project I worked on. Was a lot of fun, but we had some days flying up into the San Diego mountains were the clouds were low & thick, and I was concerned. But overall the project, which didn't build any access roads and was largely built using helicopters, only had a few minor mishaps of accidental equipment drops.

 

racer1

Tom Curren status
Apr 16, 2014
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Honolulu, Hawaii
I used to valet at a restaurant and one of the regulars was a vietnam vet helicopter pilot. He crashed in 'nam and lost a hand and leg from the knee down. Very nice guy but hobbled around and looked in pain, probably spinal and hip damage too.
 

flyinraptr

Michael Peterson status
Dec 18, 2008
2,804
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San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
I have an uncle who flew on a medivac in Vietnam - was shot down twice. Once back in the US - would not fly on anything for about 30 years. He used to say the guys flying into the LZ first had it the easiest - after that the VC knew you were coming and were ready for you. The helicoptors following would take the brunt of it.
 

Muscles

Michael Peterson status
Jun 1, 2013
2,596
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California/Hawaii
Tour helicopters are unbelievably dangerous especially when you add in the terrain and weather conditions on Kauai. Bad year for Hawaii copters. One crashed in the middle of the road in Kailua. It was 40 ft from my friends front yard. Thankfully it didn't hit a house and injure more people.
 

noone999

OTF status
Sep 13, 2012
317
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HI
I live on Kauai, and I really don't like these helicopters. They fly very low and into some very crazy terrain by Waimea Canyon and Kokee, and the Na Pali Coast. I ride dualsport bikes in Kokee and the copter went down very close to where we ride. The winds there are extremely unpredictable. It will be sunny, and then the next minute foggy, then rainy. How those guys manage flying those machines in that terrain is beyond me. Those helicopters are just flying pollution in my opinion.
 
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Woke AF

Tom Curren status
Jul 29, 2009
11,439
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Southern Tip, Norcal
I had a friend who flew for lumber companies in Tahoe. He built up his hours doing that. He moved on to pulling cable while they were repairing the San Mateo bridge. He did have an accident doing that, flipped the helicopter and landed in the bay. Not sure what happened to him after that.
His close buddy who worked w/ him in Tahoe told me he told his kids who wanted to fly w/ him -never do it.
 

silentbutdeadly

Duke status
Sep 26, 2005
33,498
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Tower 13
my brother in law was a lineman, now he's a supervisor/trainer for PG&E

I seem to recall he was making 160-180K but working a ton of hours. he has some really fucking cool videos that he's shown us. He's always jealous of me having a "brain" job and would gladly take a pay cut for it.
 

toPBk

Miki Dora status
Mar 27, 2002
4,724
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63
North Pacific Beach, CA
Very sad. I did same tour years ago after Hanalei wedding. New wife (now ex) and I were seated up front with heavier passengers in back. I was amazed and scared poo less the whole time. Makes me wonder what if... RIP
 

doubleup

Legend (inyourownmind)
Nov 18, 2019
370
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Flying off the West coast of Kauai may be hazardous to your health, courtesy of US Miitary.
80699271_2566438470071774_7959623737307824128_n.jpg
 

QuadFin

Gerry Lopez status
Oct 10, 2018
1,318
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From 2009

INTRODUCTION:
Crashes of sightseeing helicopter flights in Hawaii and the resulting tourist deaths prompted the FAA to issue regulations in 1994 specific to air tours in Hawaii. Research was undertaken to examine the effect of the 1994 Rule and to describe the circumstances of such crashes.

METHOD:
From National Transportation Safety Board data, 59 crashes of helicopter air tour flights in Hawaii during 1981-2008 were identified; crash investigation reports were read and coded. Crashes in 1995-2008 were compared with those in 1981-1994.

RESULTS:
The 1994 Rule was followed by a 47% decrease in the crash rate, from 3.4 to 1.8/100,000 flight hours. The number of crashes into the ocean decreased from eight before the Rule to one afterwards. VFR-IMC crashes increased from 5 to 32% of crashes. There were 46 tourists and 9 pilots who died in 16 fatal crashes. Aircraft malfunctions, primarily due to poor maintenance, precipitated 34 (58%) of the crashes and persisted throughout the 28-yr period. Pilot errors were apparent in 23 crashes (39%). Flight from visual to instrument conditions occurred in two cases before the Rule and seven cases after. Terrain unsuitable for landing was cited in 37 crashes (63%).

CONCLUSION:
Decreases occurred in the overall number and rate of crashes and in ocean crash landings. The increase in VFR-IMC crashes may be related to the requirement that tour helicopters fly at least 1500 ft. above terrain. Attention is still needed to maintenance, pilot training, and restricting flights to operating areas and conditions that enable safe emergency landings.