The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General has opened an audit of the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety oversight of helicopter air-tour operations. The nationwide review will assess how the FAA monitors the sector, including the work of its Flight Standards District Offices, and how well it understands which operators and flights are active. The audit follows longstanding safety concerns and the fatal crash of a sightseeing helicopter on 10 April 2025, in which all six people aboard died.
The OIG is also examining the regulatory framework, which an FAA-industry rulemaking committee recently found to be spread across multiple rules, with some provisions overlapping or contradicting one another. The inspector general cited uncertainty over the FAA’s awareness of operators using an “aerial photography” classification or other exemptions. Some flights under that classification may be subject to the same safety rules as private recreational pilots rather than those applicable to commercial air tours.
The audit was requested by Representatives Robert Menendez, Jerrold Nadler, Ed Case, Dan Goldman, Frank Pallone Jr., Jill Tokuda and Nydia Velázquez. The OIG has not published a timetable for the work. Its announcement outlines the audit objective but reports no findings or recommendations.