{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://case.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4967", "Federal Aviation Administration Denies Trident Adventures' Petition To Operate Tour Helicopter Snorkel and Scuba Drops Into State Waters", "2026-08-31", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "House", "HI", "Ed Case", "C001055", "case.house.gov", "case", "https://case.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27&Page=1", "scraper", "(Washington, DC) \u2013 U.S. Representative Ed Case (HI-01) announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has denied a petition from Trident Adventures for an exemption to the FAA\u2019s rules governing the use of aircraft safety belts and supplemental restraints which would allow the company to continue operating its so-called \u201chelocast\u201d jumps from helicopters into the ocean while hovering at low altitude above the water.\n\nCase had joined many others in communicating his strong opposition to the petition. In his letter to the FAA, Case said that Trident Adventures \u201chas temporarily suspended this activity and is seeking an exemption from applicable Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations to resume conducting helocast jumps as part of its tour operations.\n\nCase noted that the petition called for an exemption \u201cthat would allow temporary release of passenger restraints during a stabilized helicopter hover approximately 10 to 35 feet above open water for the purpose of conducting controlled water-entry operations.\n\n\u201cThese provisions are critical to maintaining the safety of air travel, regardless of flight altitude or aircraft stability. Trident Adventures seeks to rely on its low-altitude, stable flight operations as grounds for an exemption from passenger restraint requirements and the resumption of helocast operations.\u201d\n\n\u201cAny uncertainty regarding whether air-tour services such as those proposed by Trident Adventures are authorized to operate and comply with the applicable regulatory framework would place public safety at risk.\u201d\n\nThe FAA noted that Trident Adventures was \u201cnot seeking a reduction in safety standards or operational oversight but believes that their operational history, documented procedures, training programs, and conservative performance based operating limitations together demonstrate an equivalent or greater level of safety\u201d as called for in the agency\u2019s rules.\n\nHowever, in its analysis of the company\u2019s helocast operations, the FAA noted that while the company made assurances for passenger safety \u201cthe operational and environmental controls do not provide an equivalent level of protection against slip, loss of footing, aircraft motion, turbulence, windblast, sudden control input, or human error that the regulation\u2019s restraint framework is intended to provide.\u201d\n\nThe FAA went on to say that \u201ceven under favorable conditions a participant remains exposed to the possibility of a fall caused by unexpected aircraft movement, momentary loss of balance, wet or unstable footing, downwash effects, or sudden participant movement.\n\n\u201cTherefore, although the controls put in place by Trident Adventures may reduce the probability of encountering a degraded operating environment and reduce the likelihood of an inadvertent separation of persons from the aircraft, the FAA finds that they do not provide for a level of safety at least equivalent to the restraint-based protections required by \u00a7 91.108 once the participant is no longer seated and restrained inside the aircraft.\u201d\n\nAfter reviewing the petition, the FAA in its 21-page ruling found that \u201ca grant of exemption would not provide an equivalent level of safety\u201d as defined in its rules \u201cand therefore would not be in the public interest.\u201d\n\nFAA denial of the petition is here\n\nCase letter opposing the petition is here\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-01T09:48:49Z", "2026-09-01T09:49:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://case.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4967"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7844839710742235, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}