Hawaii Helicopter Tour Troubles Return After Cliffside Crash

Concerns in Hawaii’s helicopter tour industry and a new lawsuit are again drawing attention to safety concerns. Last summer, a low-flying tour helicopter passed directly overhead a paraglider pilot, Kincaid Kawananakoa, who said he was forced into the Makapuu cliffs. The incident left him with a broken ankle and triggered an emergency airlift from the rocky Oahu shoreline.

In a complaint filed last week, Kawananakoa accuses Rainbow Helicopters of operating below the minimum safe altitude and collapsing his glider wing with rotor wash. The suit also names Rainbow’s parent company, Novictor Aviation LLC, and its owner, Nicole Battjes, who Kawananakoa claims should be held personally responsible due to potential underinsurance.

This isn’t the first time Battjes and Novictor have drawn scrutiny. In April, we reported that an FAA investigation found Battjes had improperly certified the pilot involved in a fatal 2019 Kailua crash, despite lacking the required authority. That incident was one of three deadly tour crashes in Hawaii that year and raised concerns about accountability in the islands’ helicopter tour industry. You can read more about that in our article on what this FAA report means for booking a helicopter tour in Hawaii.

Rainbow has not yet commented on the new lawsuit. In the past, they’ve pointed to strict FAA compliance and safety protocols.

Who controls Hawaii’s skies?

This lawsuit raises a broader question that goes beyond one near-miss crash: Who’s managing Hawaii’s crowded skies? The short answer is—barely anyone.

Makapuu is one of several FAA-identified zones in the islands where non-powered flight is permitted. These areas are widely used by paragliders, who launch from cliffside slopes and ride thermal updrafts along the coast.

At the same time, helicopter tours follow overlapping paths, often cutting across these zones while flying scenic coastal loops. FAA guidance calls for helicopters to remain at or above 1,500 feet when passing over these glide zones. According to the lawsuit, the aircraft in question flew at less than 1,000 feet—well under that threshold.

There’s no central system in place that actively separates these different airspace users in real time. Helicopters, paragliders, small planes, and drones often operate in the same general corridors with little coordination. It’s legal, but it’s not necessarily safe.

And that’s not based on any one source—it’s the lived experience of pilots, residents, and outdoor enthusiasts across the state. Multiple incidents, informal reports, and long-running community frustrations all point to a system that’s stretched thin.

On a typical day, several dozen helicopter tours may fly over Oahu alone. Popular sites like Makapuu are frequent pass-through zones for operators heading between Honolulu and points east or north. For paragliders, the number of launchable sites is limited, and Makapuu remains one of the most reliable for consistent wind and lift. That makes conflict almost inevitable.

Oversight remains light. The FAA has authority over airspace and aircraft operations, but actual enforcement is often reactive. Tour operators self-report their flight paths.

The FAA does not monitor every flight in real time, and unless a crash or near-miss occurs, violations often go unnoticed. Attempts by the state to impose stricter rules—like capping tour numbers or requiring local reporting—have been blocked in court, reinforcing that federal law preempts state efforts.

The result is a regulatory vacuum in one of Hawaii’s busiest aerial tourism markets. Visitors may assume there’s active coordination in the skies above popular scenic sites. There isn’t. And that’s part of what this case is forcing back into the spotlight.

Safety concerns extend beyond a single operator.

This isn’t the first time Rainbow Helicopters and its owner, Nicole Battjes, have come under scrutiny. In 2019, a Novictor Aviation helicopter operated by Rainbow crashed in Kailua, killing three people. Following the crash, the FAA confirmed that Battjes had improperly certified the pilot despite lacking the authority to do so. The FAA later revoked her certification privileges.

A U.S. Senate investigation later found that the FAA’s Honolulu office had allowed deviations from standard procedures in granting Battjes her certification authority and failed to enforce its own oversight rules. That case became one of several cited in broader concerns about FAA oversight of Hawaii’s air-tour industry.

The 2023 incident involving Kawananakoa didn’t result in fatalities, but it raises similar concerns about oversight and operational safety. Are your pilots being monitored closely enough? Are companies under pressure to prioritize passenger experience over safety margins? And are minimum altitude rules adequate in places where paragliders and helicopters operate nearby?

While this lawsuit targets one operator, the broader safety concerns are not unique to Rainbow. Hawaii has seen multiple air-tour accidents in recent years—some fatal—often near popular scenic areas. In several cases, investigators attributed the incidents to weather conditions, pilot decisions, or lapses in training and regulation.

For Hawaii visitors, it’s harder to know what’s safe.

Helicopter tours are consistently among the most booked visitor activities in Hawaii. They offer access to remote valleys, waterfalls, and volcanic landscapes that are otherwise inaccessible on foot. But the risks—both actual and perceived—are rarely addressed. There are no public safety ratings for air-tour operators. No centralized system for tracking or disclosing near-miss incidents. And there is no official visitor guidance on where tour routes might overlap with those of paragliders, hikers, or beachgoers.

One reader who visited Makapuu in May told us, “We saw a chopper come in so low it looked like it was going to land on the rocks. We thought it was part of the show.”

Another wrote, “We were hiking the lighthouse trail and watched gliders in the air while helicopters zoomed past—it felt unsafe, even though nothing happened that day.”

Even when nothing technically goes wrong, the experience can feel disorienting. And when it does, visitors are often left unclear about what protections exist or what response, if any, they should expect.

Will the lawsuit change anything?

That’s unclear, and history isn’t on the side of fast change. If Kawananakoa’s lawsuit gains traction, it could pressure helicopter tour companies to reconsider their flight paths and the proximity of their operations to multi-use areas like Makapuu. But we’ve seen this before. Crashes make headlines, regulators promise reviews, and then things return to normal.

The FAA has been criticized repeatedly for its weak oversight in Hawaii. Following a fatal crash on Kauai in 2022, the National Transportation Safety Board has again urged stricter rules regarding weather, pilot training, and route approvals. It didn’t lead to much. Efforts by the state to require even basic reporting—like monthly route maps—have been blocked in court. Lawmakers have floated caps on tour volume, but nothing has passed. Meanwhile, air tours remain a top marketing hook for Hawaii travel.

So far, the industry has weathered every safety scandal without significant reform. Whether this case shifts anything may depend less on what happens in court, and more on how much attention it gets outside of it.

What visitors can do right now.

If you’re planning to take a helicopter tour in Hawaii, don’t just take the company’s word for it. Ask about the pilot’s experience, but more importantly, look up the operator’s history yourself. A quick search for past crashes, FAA actions, or news coverage can tell you far more than a brochure, website, or phone script.

At scenic spots like Makapuu, be aware that you’re sharing space with aircraft. Trails and ridgelines may sit directly under active flight paths. Stay alert, and steer clear of paragliding launch zones unless you’re part of that activity.

And if you’re not sure a tour is for you, it doesn’t mean missing out. Some of Hawaii’s best views are still reachable on foot—no noise, no rotors, and no costly expense required.

A moment of reckoning?

Whether Kawananakoa’s lawsuit succeeds or not, it puts something back on the table that Hawaii has avoided answering for years: how close is too close, and how much risk are we tolerating in exchange for the view?

Helicopter tours aren’t going away. They sell out, they photograph well, and they remain a highlight for many. But the skies aren’t unlimited. The airspace around Hawaii’s most visited places is getting more crowded, not less—and no one’s entirely in charge of keeping everything separated.

Most helicopter flights in Hawaii operate safely and without incident. But when something does go wrong, it’s fair for visitors to ask what rules are in place—and who’s enforcing them.

How do you feel about Hawaii helicopter safety?