FAA Issues New Rules for Quieter Aircraft Flying Grand Canyon Tours

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The Federal Aviation Administration has issued new regulations that encourage air sightseeing tour operators to use newer, quieter aircraft in Grand Canyon National Park.

Existing regulations restrict the number of flights and require tour operators to stay within specified flight routes.

Under the new rules, posted Tuesday, operators who lessen noise will qualify for incentives that could include more flights with fewer restrictions. The exact incentives have yet to be determined.

''This part is working toward new aircraft and aircraft noise technologies,'' FAA spokesman Henry Price said Wednesday from Washington.

Tour operators say their helicopters and airplanes carry 800,000 tourists over and to the northern Arizona park each year. More than half the flights originate in Las Vegas.

The industry has been asking the FAA for the incentives, said Steve Bassett, head of the U.S. Tour Association industry group. ''Aircraft that meet the quiet technology standards should get something back,'' Bassett said.

Congress in 1987 directed the FAA and the National Park Service to achieve ''natural quiet'' at the park. The agencies have defined that as when half of the park is free of aircraft noise 75 percent to 100 percent of the time.