Senator wants probe of Hawaii FAA office after 3 crashes

FILE - In this April 29, 2019 file photo, a portion of the tail section of a helicopter is shown after crashing in Kailua, Hawaii. The chairman of a key Senate committee is asking the Transportation Department’s Inspector General to investigate misconduct allegations at the Federal Aviation Administration’s Hawaii field office. They involve an allegedly close relationship between an FAA manager and a helicopter tour company involved in three crashes during the past two years. Three people were killed in one of the crashes, which happened in April of last year. (Bruce Asato/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP, File)

HONOLULU — A whistleblower has told a Senate committee that a manager in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Hawaii field office improperly let a helicopter tour company owner certify pilots for flight on behalf of the agency.