Aerial tour companies remain open after flights near National parks are prohibited

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Helicopter tour companies in the Black Hills are still open and fighting back after the air tour management plan prohibits flights near national parks.

Black Hills Aerial Adventures, a Southern Hills helicopter tour company known for offering breathtaking views of the Black Hills, is facing operational changes due to the air tour management program. The program, which aims to reduce noise pollution and enhance visitor experiences at national parks, introduced strict regulations on flight paths.

For Black Hills Aerial Adventures, these changes impact their close-up site tours.

“The routes that we’re flying, we had to move much farther away from Mount Rushmore, which isn’t delivering the same experience to our customers that we used to be able to deliver,” John Wells, co-owner of Black Hills Aerial Adventures said.

The air management plans took effect in May and require air tours to stay at least a half-mile from the boundaries of each site. Because of this, many assumed these tours would be shut down. Wells said although they changed their routes, they are still open.

“You know, we get phone calls from people who are saying, ‘Hey, we need to cancel; you’re shut down, right?’ and we’re like, ‘No, we’re not’ but that’s just the people who are calling because they already have a reservation; we don’t know how many we are missing because they’re not even trying to book because they just assume we’re out of business,” Wells said.

Wells said they are continuing to fight to overturn these restrictions.

“We are unhappy with how this process was carried out; it was a rushed process, and even the FAA and the National Park admitted that it was a timeline that was unattainable,” Wells said.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2024 KEVN. All rights reserved.