WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board chairman said yesterday most of the recommendations the board issued last month on fatal sightseeing helicopter crashes in Hawai'i were not relevant to the two recent accidents on Kaua'i.

The Federal Aviation Administration also has not found any indication so far of any safety issue common to both accidents, which occurred on Sunday and Thursday, said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA Western-Pacific Region.

"Investigations are still in the early stages, but they have different operators, different makes of helicopter, different malfunctions reported by the pilot of each aircraft," he said. "It would be premature to take any action until we have more information at our disposal."

The two most recent accidents left five people dead. They came about two weeks after the safety board issued 12 recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration about two other sightseeing helicopter accidents on Kaua'i — one in September 2004 and the second about a year later — that killed eight people.

"They were more in the area of training, dealing with pilots, weather and decision-making — that kind of thing," said Mark V. Rosenker, chairman of the safety board.

Rosenker said the safety recommendations dealt primarily with pilots' training, changing some of the operations practices and making safety improvements to the aircraft.

FOCUS ON MECHANICS

In the two recent accidents, the safety board is more concerned about the mechanical systems, Rosenker said.

"We're talking about (mechanical) failure in some way, shape or form," he said.

One pilot reported some type of hydraulic problem before Thursday's crash, and the pilot in the second accident reported what appeared to be a tail rotor failure, Rosenker said.

"We don't know how or why or what, but clearly there were issues related to that area (mechanical)," he said.

Rosenker also said two recommendations coming out of the older crashes generally dealt with safety in air tour operations "in a very, very broad manner."

One called for more FAA oversight of air tour operations and more enforcement of the regulations governing the industry. A second called for new safety standards and enforcement for all air tour operations, including maintenance policies and regulations.

Rosenker said he did not know what the investigation into the two newest accidents would find.

"I've asked for as quick a determination as we can possibly do — no shortcuts, but obviously this is something we're very concerned about," he said. "We will find out what happened here."

Gregor said an FAA team was in Hawai'i early last week before the first crash to evaluate staffing at the Honolulu Flight Standards District Office. The team left at the end of the week, he said.

"They completed their inspection last week and we don't have any report or recommendations from that team yet," Gregor said.

He said he did not know when the team would complete its work.

MORE INSPECTORS?

Part of the evaluation was to determine if more people were needed for inspecting air-tour operators, Gregor said.

In its review of the older sightseeing helicopter crashes, the safety board blasted the FAA for insufficient oversight and regulation of air tours in the state.

The safety board said staffing at the Honolulu office and the effect on safety had been subjects of concern for years, and suggested that the 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," the safety board said.

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