US transportation inspector probes FAA regulation of helicopter tour industry

DOT’s inspector general notes a “loophole’ allowing aerial photography flights to operate under less-stringent regulations.
Concerns about lax oversight have prompted the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT) inspector general to investigate the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulation of helicopter tour operators.

“There have been longstanding concerns regarding the industry’s safety and whether the current regulatory framework provides adequate safeguards,” the DOT’s Office of Inspector General said on 3 November in disclosing its inquiry.

The move responds to a request from Congress but stems more broadly from the helicopter tour industry’s chequered safety record and a “scattered” and “overlapping” regulatory framework, it adds.

The FAA does not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The inspector general notes 58 helicopters operating “tourist” flights have crashed since 2008, of which 11 involved fatalities. Those included the April 2025 crash into New York’s Hudson River of a Bell 206 that killed six people.

“There have been longstanding concerns regarding the industry’s safety and whether the current regulatory framework provides adequate safeguards,” it says.

The action comes after an FAA rulemaking committee last November completed a report calling for regulatory changes. It said helicopter tour operations can be subject to a “patchwork of overlapping and sometimes contradictory requirements” and recommended that the FAA consolidate all air tour standards.

That 2025 report also urged the FAA to establish air tour pilot experience standards and to require operators to report mechanical issues.

The DOT’s inspector general also cites a “regulatory loophole” under which companies have operated tour-like flights as “aerial photography” flights.

An exemption allows aerial photograph flights to fall under Part 91 rules, which are typically intended for general aviation and are less stringent than the Part 135 rules that otherwise apply to air carriers.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) called attention to the aerial photography concern after the 2018 crash of an Airbus Helicopters AS350, also in New York.

That helicopter went down, killing all five passengers, after a passenger’s tether caught and moved the fuel shut-off lever to the cut-off position, causing the helicopter to lose power.

The operator – Liberty Helicopters – had “exploited” the aerial photography exemption, allowing it to operate under Part 91 with “limited” FAA oversight, the NTSB’s report said.

The 2025 New York crash similarly involved a helicopter operating under Part 91.

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