The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has opened an audit of the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety oversight of helicopter air tour operations, citing questions about how aware the agency is of an “aerial photography” loophole and other exemptions used by sightseeing tours. The OIG announced the audit, project number 27A3002A000, on November 3, 2026, and said the work begins in November 2026.

The audit objective is to evaluate the FAA’s safety oversight of helicopter air tour operations, according to the announcement memo signed by Marshall E. Jackson, Assistant Inspector General for Aviation Audits. The memo cites longstanding concerns about the industry’s safety and about whether the regulatory framework provides adequate safeguards. It says the exemptions in question allow sightseeing tours to operate under less stringent requirements than intended.

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What prompted the audit

The memo describes helicopter tourism as a multimillion-dollar U.S. industry and notes that FAA Flight Standards District Offices (FSDOs) nationwide oversee commercial helicopter air tours. It states that at least 58 crashes involving tourist helicopters have occurred since 2008, 11 of them fatal. It also cites the April 10, 2025, accident in which, according to the memo, a Bell 206 LongRanger IV on a sightseeing tour went into the Hudson River and all six people aboard were killed.

The NTSB lists its investigation of that accident, case ERA25MA171, as ongoing, and its investigation page shows no final report or probable cause.

Representatives Robert Menendez, Jerrold Nadler, Ed Case, Dan Goldman, Frank Pallone, Jr., Jill Tokuda and Nydia Velazquez requested the audit on October 16, 2025, the memo says. According to the OIG, the members asked it to assess the FAA’s oversight of helicopter air tourism and the agency’s awareness of existing operations.

A rulebook spread across several parts

The rulemaking committee’s findings

The OIG points to the Commercial Air Tour Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) final report of November 22, 2025, which concluded that operational and procedural requirements for commercial air tours are spread across multiple rules that sometimes overlap or contradict one another. The FAA chartered that committee under a charter dated January 14, 2025, as mandated by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. Its members included aircraft owners and operators, air tour and safety organizations and other industry experts, and the NTSB and the FAA cooperated with it.

The report says air tour rules sit across Parts 91, 119, 135, 136 and 194 of the federal aviation regulations. Its first recommendation is to overhaul Part 136 so that it includes all air tour standards. Other recommendations include an annual Air Tour Flight Review for pilots not subject to Part 135 or Part 121 checks, minimum pilot-in-command experience standards, flight data monitoring (FDM) programs, the formal identification of High Traffic Tour Areas, and ADS-B In and Out equipage in all airspace.

The committee also recommends amending section 119.1(e)(2) to reference Part 136, amending section 91.147 so that it acts as a referral clause to Part 136, and moving the Part 91 Letter of Authorization (LOA) process into Part 136.

The NTSB’s aerial photography concern

The memo attributes the aerial photography concern to the NTSB, which it says found that some operators use the loophole to follow the safety rules that apply to private recreational pilots. Among its references, the memo cites the NTSB’s accident report on a March 11, 2018, Liberty Helicopters FlyNYON doors-off flight in New York.

The NTSB also raised the issue in an April 13, 2021, letter to the FAA that transmitted its report on revenue passenger-carrying operations under Part 91. In Safety Recommendation A-21-10, the board asked the FAA to identify shortcomings in 14 CFR 119.1(e) that let operators avoid stricter regulation and oversight, citing “nonstop commercial air tour flights operating as aerial photography flights” as one example.

The same letter reiterated two earlier recommendations: A-19-28, that all commercial air tour operators, regardless of operating rule, implement a safety management system (SMS), and A-19-31, that the FAA develop Part 135 standards, or equivalent regulations, for all air tour operations with powered airplanes and rotorcraft. The NTSB classified A-19-31 at the time as open with an unacceptable response. AirPro News has separately covered the FAA’s expanded SMS mandate for operators.

How the audit will work

According to the memo, the OIG will contact the FAA audit liaison to schedule an entrance conference. The audit team will work at FAA Headquarters and at select FSDOs, chosen from a sample of helicopter tour operators. Questions about the audit go to Jackson or to Brian Frist, Program Director.

The memo does not give a date for the audit’s final report. For tour operators and the FSDOs that oversee them, the NTSB’s 2021 letter and the rulemaking committee’s report point to the same provision: both single out 14 CFR 119.1(e), which the NTSB links to air tours flown as aerial photography flights.

The FAA has ordered inspections of sealant inside the center wing fuel tank of certain Boeing 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10 airplanes, after a report that some sealant installations did not receive required visual and adhesion inspections during production. Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2026-22-05 takes effect on December 7, 2026, and the FAA estimates that it affects 60 airplanes of U.S. registry.

The final rule, published in the Federal Register on November 2, 2026, under Docket No. FAA-2026-1322 (Amendment 39-23507), requires a detailed inspection of certain sealant installations in the left, right and center wing side-of-body areas, an adhesion test of the sealant, and applicable on-condition actions. The FAA states in the AD that the unsafe condition, if not addressed, “could result in development of an ignition source within the fuel tank volume” and “a risk of a fuel tank explosion during a lightning strike event.”

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What operators must do

The AD requires operators to perform the actions in the Accomplishment Instructions of Boeing Alert Requirements Bulletin B787-81205-SB570053-00 RB, Issue 001, dated November 5, 2025, at the times specified in its Compliance paragraph. The related Boeing Alert Service Bulletin B787-81205-SB570053-00, Issue 001, of the same date, is referenced as guidance. Where the bulletin counts compliance times from its Issue 001 date, operators use the AD’s effective date instead.

The AD applies only to the airplanes identified in the Boeing requirements bulletin. Where the bulletin says to contact Boeing for repair instructions, the repair must be done using a method approved by the FAA. For sealant installation repairs, the final rule adds that complying with Airworthiness Limitation (AWL) items 28-AWL-83, 28-AWL-120, 28-AWL-121, 28-AWL-123, 28-AWL-124 and 28-AWL-125, as applicable, in Section D of the Boeing 787 Special Compliance Items/Airworthiness Limitations document D011Z009-03-04, dated August 2018, is an acceptable repair.

Alternative methods of compliance (AMOCs) may be approved by the Manager of the FAA’s Continued Operational Safety Branch (AIR-520) under 14 CFR 39.19. Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) may also approve AMOCs for repairs, modifications or alterations if that manager authorizes it.

Costs and the comments behind the final rule

The FAA estimates 34 work-hours per airplane for the detailed inspection and adhesion test, at $85 per hour, for a labor cost of $2,890 per airplane and no parts cost. Across the 60 U.S.-registered airplanes, that comes to $173,400 for U.S. operators. The FAA says it has no definitive data on which to base estimates for on-condition repairs, and that the manufacturer says some or all costs may be covered under warranty.

The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), United Airlines and an individual commenter supported the proposal without change. Boeing and American Airlines both asked for an exception allowing certain repairs under other Boeing service information. The FAA agreed with Boeing’s request and revised the repair paragraph of the AD. It did not make a change for American’s request, noting that operators may use applicable Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) procedures if each repair complies with all applicable AWL items.

American also asked whether the injection seal adhesion test applies along the dashed lines or across the whole enclosed area in Figure 1 of Appendix F. The FAA replied that the test is required along the dashed lines. The Foundation for Aviation Safety asked whether installation inspections are now required during production. The FAA said the AD’s applicability is limited to the identified airplanes because of a lack of evidence that the inspections were done on them, and confirmed that the inspections are being performed during production on airplanes outside the AD’s applicability.

From proposal to final rule

The FAA first proposed the directive in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register on February 24, 2026 (91 FR 8791), under Project Identifier AD-2025-01665-T. The NPRM was issued on February 12, 2026, and set a comment deadline of April 10, 2026. In the proposal, the FAA said it had determined that the unsafe condition is likely to exist or develop on other products of the same type design. The Boeing requirements bulletin that both documents rely on is dated November 5, 2025.

In the final rule, the FAA says it reviewed the relevant data and the comments received and determined that air safety requires adopting the AD as proposed, with minor editorial changes and the changes it describes, none of which it says increase the economic burden on operators. The rule was issued on October 26, 2026, by Brian Knaup, Acting Deputy Director of the Integrated Certificate Management Division in the FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service.

The directive is filed under ATA Code 57, Wing. AirPro News previously reported on the FAA’s 787 bulkhead inspection mandate in March 2025.

What comes next

The AD takes effect on December 7, 2026, and compliance times in the Boeing bulletin run from that date. The FAA contact named in the final rule is Tak Kobayashi, Aviation Safety Engineer, in Des Moines, Washington.

A new Airport Traffic Decree (Luchthavenverkeerbesluit, LVB) for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) entered into force on November 1, 2026, capping traffic at 478,000 flight movements a year, including a maximum of 27,000 at night, and ending a tolerance arrangement under which the old decree’s rules had not been enforced since 2015.

Schiphol announced the change in a press release dated November 1, 2026, calling it a significant moment for the airport, airlines and local residents and saying the decree brings long-awaited clarity on noise, safety, emissions, runway use and the number of flights. For operators, the detail that matters most is in the Dutch government’s announcement of October 27, 2026: the 478,000 cap holds until a noise target is met, and any growth toward 500,000 movements depends on noise falling further, with both chambers of parliament involved in that decision.

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What the decree sets

According to Schiphol, the 478,000 cap means fewer flights than before the coronavirus crisis, when the airport handled around 500,000 flights a year, including approximately 32,000 at night. The decree sets noise rules that protect residents across a larger area than before. Its enforcement thresholds allow for annual variation from factors such as weather and runway usage, but Schiphol said that leeway cannot be used to add flights.

The government said the decree contains 148 enforcement points, compared with 35 in the old decree, each setting a maximum annual noise level at a location around the airport. If a limit threatens to be exceeded, Schiphol must intervene. If a limit is exceeded, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport, ILT) can enforce.

That enforcement has a gap for now. During the Senate’s review of the decree on September 28 and 29, 2026, Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Vincent Karremans said the inspectorate cannot yet impose an administrative fine when a noise limit is exceeded, and promised to propose an amendment to the Aviation Act (Wet luchtvaart) to make that possible, according to the Senate’s summary.

The decree includes targets to cut noise nuisance by 20 percent during the day and 15 percent at night. The House of Representatives’ summary of its September 29 debate describes the cabinet’s aim as 20% fewer people experiencing serious noise nuisance during the day and 15% fewer at night, compared with 2024. The Balanced Approach that the ministry introduced in 2024, which combines a rising share of quieter aircraft with higher charges for noisier aircraft through differentiated airport charges, is now legally embedded in the decree. Schiphol said more than 40 percent of aircraft at the airport now belong to the newest and quietest categories.

Schiphol chief executive Pieter van Oord called the decree an important milestone. “As an international hub, Schiphol is of great value to the Netherlands,” he said.

“After years of uncertainty, the LVB provides us with a legal foundation. A foundation on which we can build an airport that is future-proof and increasingly quiet, and that continues to fulfil its role for the Netherlands,” van Oord said.

A tolerance arrangement, a court ruling and a new decree

Since 2015, Schiphol has operated under a tolerance arrangement (gedoogsituatie). The government said the rules of the old decree were no longer enforced because all parties had agreed on other approaches to flight operations, but the new rules were never formally established, so residents could not invoke them. The decree that took effect on November 1 ends that situation, the government said.

The new decree follows a court ruling that struck down an earlier version of the same cap. On March 11, 2026, the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State (Raad van State) annulled an earlier amendment that had capped Schiphol at 478,000 flights a year from November 1, 2025. According to a summary of the ruling (ECLI:NL:RVS:2026:1400) published by legal publisher PONT Omgeving, the court found that the minister had given insufficient reason for treating a maximum number of flights as the noise limit, and had not shown that the amendment reduced noise nuisance for residents. Aviation Week summarized the ruling as finding that the government had not adequately justified the restrictions.

With the amendment annulled, the earlier decree, which has no cap on total annual flights, remained in force, and the court set a provisional limit of 27,000 commercial night movements per operating year until a new decision took effect. The House of Representatives debated the new decree with Karremans on September 29, 2026, and the Senate held a short plenary debate the same day. On October 13, 2026, the Senate rejected all five motions on the decree that were put to a vote, including one calling for fewer flight movements when noise standards are exceeded. The government published the decree in the Staatsblad, the official gazette, on October 27, 2026.

In the government’s announcement, Karremans said Schiphol connects the Netherlands with the world and is very important for the country’s earning capacity, and described the decree as a milestone after a multi-year process that strikes a fair balance between residents’ interests and the economy. The government said the airport supports more than 110,000 jobs in the Netherlands, with 68,000 people working directly at the airport and 45,000 at suppliers or other linked organisations, and that more than 300 destinations can be reached directly from Schiphol. AirPro Atlas lists six runways at Schiphol and 66,828,453 passengers in 2024.

The conditional route to 500,000 movements

The government said the 478,000 cap applies until Schiphol reaches its noise target of 20 percent fewer seriously annoyed residents around the airport. After that, growth up to a maximum of 500,000 movements is allowed, but only if the noise burden decreases further. Half of the resulting noise reduction is to benefit the surrounding area and the other half is to create room for more flights. The Senate and the House of Representatives will be involved in the decision to activate the growth system.

Airport executives discussed that path at Routes World 2026 in Frankfurt, Aviation Week reported on October 23, 2026. Joery Strijtveen, head of aviation partnerships at Royal Schiphol Group, said: “If we meet our … targets, which we believe we will, there is potential for future growth in the number of movements.” According to Aviation Week, the airport expects the cap to remain at first and is concentrating on bigger aircraft and fuller use of the infrastructure it already has, with Strijtveen saying more can be done outside the busy morning hours.

Schiphol reports that noise is already falling. In a second interim evaluation of the Balanced Approach, shared with Parliament in August 2026, the ministry reported a 17% reduction in the number of severely affected residents and a 29.8% reduction in residents experiencing sleep disturbance, according to Schiphol. Three of the four interim results exceeded their 15% targets, and the final percentages are expected in December 2026.

Schiphol’s operating forecast for November 1, 2026 to October 31, 2027, which is based on the new decree, expects about 45% of flights to use aircraft from the quietest noise categories and projects the number of severely affected residents to fall to around 150,000 in 2027. Schiphol said quieter aircraft, encouraged through differentiated airport charges, will bring the largest gain.

What comes next

The decree faces a legal challenge. Greenpeace Nederland, Milieudefensie and SchipholWatch said they would ask the Council of State to annul it once it had been officially published, Dutch news agency ANP reported on October 22, 2026. Johan Vollenbroek, speaking for the organisations and residents, said the decision falls well short and does not adequately protect the environment or residents, and that the minister must return to the drawing board, which he said can only be done with fewer flights.

For operators, Schiphol has also set out its own calendar. The Oostbaan runway will undergo a major refurbishment from March 20 to August 8, 2027, the most extensive maintenance project in its history. Schiphol said the Oostbaan is its least-used runway, mainly serving smaller aircraft, so the impact on the area is expected to be limited.

AirPro News analysis

The decree makes noise performance the measure of capacity at Schiphol. Under the government’s design, any growth beyond 478,000 movements depends first on meeting the 20 percent target and then on noise falling further, with half of the resulting noise reduction going to the surrounding area. Schiphol expects quieter aircraft to bring the largest gain, which puts airline fleet choices at the centre of whether the route to 500,000 opens. We would watch the Council of State appeal and the promised Aviation Act amendment on fines just as closely, since both bear on how firmly the new limits can be held.