The fifth fatal tour helicopter crash on Kaua'i in four years is yet another urgent call for improved safety regulations in one of Hawai'i's most popular tourist attractions.

With an estimated 750,000 people each year taking helicopter tours in Hawai'i, it's imperative that the Federal Aviation Administration provide the resources and the oversight needed to address potential safety issues within the industry.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigators will once again be on Kaua'i to document a deadly crash, this time keying in on any structural failures that may have occurred. This comes just a week after the NTSB sent a letter to the FAA criticizing the agency for failing to provide sufficient resources to Honolulu to oversee the local helicopter tour industry. The letter suggested that better oversight would have prevented at least one crash that killed five people in 2004.

Indeed, the NTSB for years has been calling for additional FAA staffing and stricter regulations. Unfortunately, even if new regulations are approved, there's still months of lag time before companies must comply. The agency must do all it can to expedite that process, keeping safety concerns a priority. One industry group, the Tour Operators Program of Safety, has already voluntarily adopted safety standards more stringent than current FAA rules. But that's no substitute for tough federal standards.

As a matter of public safety, the FAA must treat this with the utmost urgency.