STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2459

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2747

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 2747 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AIRCRAFT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Director of Transportation to adopt rules that require tour aircraft operators to have aircraft liability insurance coverage not less than $1,000,000 per person per incident.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Blue Hawaiian and one individual.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Helicopter Association International and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from Hawaii Association for Justice.

Your Committee finds that there is currently no statute to set minimum insurance coverage for tour aircraft operations within the State. Your Committee further finds that requiring insurance coverage has become increasingly necessary given recent incidents involving helicopter crashes that resulted in catastrophic injury, loss of life, and substantial property damage. This measure will support safety and increased adoption of technology, equipment, and programs through increased insurance coverage.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language that will require the insurance coverage to be an unspecified percentage of the highest minimum required insurance at an international airport in the United States; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2747, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2747, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

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CHRIS LEE, Chair