Mazie Hirono: “in 2019, 21 people died in Hawaii in three tragic air recreation accidents involving helicopters or planes. On December…”

“in 2019, 21 people died in Hawaii in three tragic air recreation accidents involving helicopters or planes. On December 26, 2019, while many of us were enjoying the holidays with our loved ones and friends, seven people lost their lives when an air tour helicopter crashed into a mountain on the Island of Kauai. All aboard the helicopter were killed, a mother and daughter from Wisconsin, a family of four from Switzerland, and the pilot. We still do not know the cause of the crash. In April 2019, an air tour helicopter crashed on a street in the residential neighborhood of Kailua on the island of Oahu, killing all aboard: two passengers and the pilot. We were fortunate that no one on the ground was injured. On June 22, 2019, 11 people died when a small plane crashed during take- off on a skydiving trip from Dillingham Airfield on Oahu. In the first accident of 2020, on March 5, six people walked away after a hard landing of an air tour helicopter on the Big Island of Hawaii. No one on the helicopter was seriously injured. Since 2015, the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, has investigated 10 air tour accidents in Hawaii and more than 46 nationwide. Senator Schatz and I are introducing the Air Tour and Skydiving Safety Improvement Act of 2020. The bill takes the outstanding safety issues and recommendations identified by the NTSB to improve the safety and accountability of air sightseeing tours and parachute tours.…”