WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board has blasted the Federal Aviation Administration for failing to properly oversee and regulate air tours in Hawai'i.

The board's strong criticisms were part of a review of two fatal crashes on Kaua'i by sightseeing helicopters.

"Staffing issues at the Hono-lulu Flight Standards District Office and their effect on safety have been subjects of safety board concern for years," said a safety recommendation letter yesterday to FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey.

The board also suggested that a September 2004 accident that killed five people might have been prevented: "The Safety Board concludes that the FAA has not provided sufficient resources for the Honolulu (office) to implement air tour surveillance. Such surveillance, in the months before the accident, may have detected and corrected the accident pilot's risky flying practices, such as low-altitude, off-route ridge crossings, and flight into clouds and reduced visibility."

Because the FAA is still not enforcing certain regulations, the safety board feared some pilots may be ignoring rules and endangering passengers, particularly in bad weather.

Calling for greater surveillance and enforcement, the letter said, "The safety board believes that the FAA should develop a permanent mechanism to provide direct surveillance of commercial air tour operations in the state of Hawai'i and to enforce commercial air tour regulations."

In the 2004 accident, a Bali Hai helicopter plowed into a mountain. The second accident occurred a year later when three people were killed after a Heli USA craft flew into a storm and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA Western-Pacific Region, said the agency is sending a team to Honolulu in the next couple of weeks to evaluate staffing there and determine if more people are needed for inspecting air tour operators.

"The people going out there to look at the staffing situation are not from our region," he said. "It will not be a case where the Western-Pacific Region is trying to validate itself. We're going to have an independent look at the staffing."

Gregor said the Ho-nolulu office currently has its authorized number of inspectors, but the issue being examined is whether more people should be looking at air tour operators.

"Right now, there is more of a focus on the air carriers," he said. "I think that's understandable given that an airliner is holding 150 to 200 passengers."

Air tours are one of Hawai'i's most popular attractions. About one in 10 tourists who visited the Islands in 2005 took an air tour, state tourism officials said. That is more than 750,000 passengers paying about $200 for a typical 45-minute ride.

The board said it had been concerned about FAA staffing since 1990, when a report concluded that "at least three accidents" in the Islands may have been prevented if the Honolulu office had enough people and guidance to maintain adequate surveillance. Five years later, the board made more recommendations on staffing.

The FAA responded with plans to adjust its workforce to take into account the board's recommendations. But continued staffing problems "clearly show the FAA has not effectively implemented its plan," the board's letter stated.

At the time of the Bali Hai accident, the FAA office manger in Honolulu estimated that the office was about 10 inspectors short, the NTSB letter said.

"But he stated that he was not authorized to hire any new inspectors because the Western-Pacific Region as a whole was overstaffed and a hiring freeze was in effect," the letter said.

"I support the NTSB's effort to make sure air tour pilots are familiar with Hawai'i's unique weather patterns," U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, said in a statement yesterday.

"Wind, rain and clouds can vary dramatically from mauka to makai, from ridges to valleys, and from island to island. And conditions can change rapidly. Just as ancient Hawaiians spent years observing and studying these patterns before setting out on canoes or hiking over mountains, it is imperative that pilots from around the country become familiar with our weather before taking flight, before being entrusted with the lives of tourists or locals who want to enjoy the majesty of our Islands," Akaka said.

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.