Amy and Jocelyn Gannon Helicopter Tour Safety Act

Amy and Jocelyn Gannon Helicopter Tour Safety Act

This bill addresses the implementation of various aviation safety recommendations related to helicopter commercial air tour flights.

Among other requirements, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must

• develop a process to review and approve any flight route used by a commercial air tour operator;
• implement a process to evaluate flight routes, or segments of flight routes, that are susceptible to rapidly changing weather;
• initiate an aviation weather camera program that includes the installation and maintenance of aviation weather cameras at critical locations in Hawaii and high risk mountain passes in the United States and establish public access to these cameras' real-time imagery;
• establish training requirements for commercial air tour operators to utilize real-time weather information made available through the aviation weather camera program;
• require commercial air tour operators to use pilots who hold instrument ratings or an Airline Transport Pilot certificate appropriate to the category and class of aircraft flown;
• study the feasibility of requiring any helicopter used for a commercial air tour to be equipped with the minimum equipment necessary to operate under instrument flight rules conditions; and
• study the feasibility of permitting commercial air tour operators or FAA inspectors to conduct random audits of helicopter mounted videos of commercial air tour flights.