The lawyers at Aviation Law Group are saddened to hear of yet another fatal helicopter accident in Hawaii involving an Airborne Aviation helicopter sightseeing flight, which occurred on the north shore of Kauai on March 26, 2026.
Though we do not yet know the cause of this most recent fatal accident, it is becoming clear that safety lessons are not being learned as flight safety risks continue and the scenic helicopter accident rate keeps climbing in Hawaii and nationally.
There is a strong likelihood that human error on some level, once again, caused or contributed to this accident. Helicopters, even newer turbine helicopters, simply should not fall out of the sky and crash. Even if single-engine helicopters have engine problems and lose power, if properly flown, they should be in a position to safely land.
In our experience representing many victims of helicopter accidents in Hawaii and throughout the Western U.S. and Alaska, when engines fail, it is typically due to negligent maintenance practices or defective component parts, or both. Adding to the liability challenge, pilot error may also be a factor if the pilot contributed to the emergency situation or failed to properly deal with the emergency once it arose.
For example, if a helicopter on a scenic flight in Hawaii sustains an engine failure while over the ocean, it should have sufficient altitude to autorotate and land safely on shore. Emergency landings in the ocean are very dangerous and must be avoided. Even if passengers survive the initial impact, being able to safely egress from a sinking helicopter can be very difficult if not impossible, and getting trapped inside can be fatal.
Since 1997, the NTSB has investigated 41 air tour accidents in Hawaii, 15 of which were fatal. Of those 41 accidents, 9 involved a pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Those nine accidents resulted in 51 deaths, most of which were preventable. In all, the NTSB issued ten new safety recommendations to the FAA and industry in its report and reiterated 11 previously published proposals.
Federal aviation regulations allow air tour operators to do what airlines cannot: fly in marginal weather conditions in hilly and mountainous terrain and sometimes very close to the ground. Consequently, there are more accidents per passenger flight hour during air tour flights than on airline flights.
In 2008 the FAA issued its Hawaii Air Tour Common Procedures Manual, which sets forth specific flight procedures for commercial air tour operators flying below 1500 feet above the ground. Yet, this did not seem to cause a significant reduction in air tour accidents.
Since 2010 the number of tour operators in Hawaii has doubled in size, and the number of flights have increased 67%. 2019 was one of the most deadly years for air tour helicopter operators in Hawaii, of which 4 total accidents and 10 deaths were the most in nearly 20 years. Most of the accidents in Hawaii since 2000 have been attributed to weather, mechanical/maintenance failure, and/or pilot error.
The worst more recent accident occurred on December 26, 2019, on Kauai, involving an Airbus AS350 helicopter operated by Safari Helicopters, which crashed into a steep hillside killing the pilot and six passengers. In its May 10, 2022, scathing report, the NTSB cited the pilot’s fatal decision to continue the flight from visual conditions into instrument conditions in the clouds, which caused the helicopter to crash into obscured terrain. The NTSB also went after the FAA. The NTSB found that the FAA delayed implementing a Hawaii aviation weather camera program, exhibited a lack of leadership to develop a cue-based weather training program for Hawaii air tour pilots, and had ineffective monitoring and oversight of air tour operational practices related to weather. The NTSB recognized the severity of the problem.
Aviation Law Group attorneys are closely monitoring facts surrounding the March 26 Airborne Aviation accident, and will update this article as more facts become known.
Aviation Law Group attorneys have, and continue to handle, a wide variety of helicopter accidents in the U.S., including in Hawaii, Alaska, and in Canada. These include scenic air tour flights. ALG attorneys have also flown as commercial pilots air tours in scenic and mountainous terrain. Two attorneys are also FAA-certified aviation mechanics, including one with FAA inspection authority. Last year, after filing a lawsuit in Hawaii Federal Court in Honolulu, attorneys at Aviation Law Group settled wrongful claims involving the Croman Sikorsky S-61A accident that occurred at Barking Sands on the west coast of Kauai in 2022, which took the lives of four persons on board.
*ALG attorney Robert Hedrick is licensed to practice law in Hawaii, and has represented families in numerous helicopter accidents in Hawaii, including on Kauai. He has also been involved in numerous MD-500 helicopter accidents, including defective component parts and engine failure.