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Extremely disappointing. Moon Safari is one of my favorite albums ever so I was super excited to see them play it live but it doesn't work at all with their setup. There's only the two members of Air and a drummer on stage. So they're playing along with a lot of samples which sucks. I would have loved to see them with a fuller band, at least one percussionist would be already much better. Even for the songs that have a vocalist on the album (All I Need, You Make it Easy) they either play a sample of the singer or sing it with a robot voice filter. Actually every single song that has singing they sing themselves with a robot voice filter and boy does it get old real fast. For the second part of the set they play other songs from their catalogue, including a version of Playground love with the lead vocal played on synth and no sax solo, which is the worst possible way to hear that song. I wanted to love it but it felt like seeing a bad cover band. They're not very engaging musicians on stage and I think they're just better suited for the studio where they do magic.

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Location Ancient Romans Theatre of Ostia (ROME), acoustics, performance, SUBLIME all.

Spectacular the closing with La Femme D'argent during about 10mins of Mind-Blowing. Nothing to add, you had to be there!

Bravo too at the Parcels at opening!

24/07/2017 @ TEATRO ROMANO DI OSTIA ANTICA

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Air Announce Moon Safari North American Tour Dates

Air have been playing their 1998 classic Moon Safari on tour in Europe, and the French duo has now announced the North American leg of the anniversary tour. The shows in Canada and the United States take place in the fall. See all of Air’s upcoming tour dates below.

It’s been over a decade since Air last released an album of new material. After putting out Le voyage dans la lune in 2012—a soundtrack for the restored version of Georges Méliès’ iconic silent film—the duo did share the compilation LP Twentyyears four years later, and it included the two previously unreleased songs “Roger Song” and “Adis Abebah.”

See which album Air’s Nicolas Godin picked for a list of “ 33 Musicians on Their Favorite Albums of the Last 25 Years .”

All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

03-07 Paris, France - L’Olympia 03-08 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso 03-24 London, England - London Coliseum 05-30 London, England - Royal Albert Hall 05-31 London, England - Royal Albert Hall 06-02 Zurich, Switzerland - Unique Moments Festival 06-14 Barcelona, Spain - Sónar Barcelona 06-21 Rome, Italy - Cavea 06-22 Ferrara, Italy - Summer Vibez 06-24 Paris, France - Days Off Festival at the Philharmonie 06-26 Halifax, England - The Piece Hall 06-27 Southampton, England - The Guildhall Square 06-30 Dublin, Ireland - Trinity College 07-05 Gdynia, Poland - Open’er Festival 07-09 Cascais, Portugal - Cool Jazz Festival 07-16 Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Neïmenster 07-18 Gent, Belgium - Gent Jazz Festival 07-19 Gent, Belgium - Gent Jazz Festival 07-21 Berlin, Germany - Spandau Citadel 07-23 Vienna, Austria - Metastadt Open Air 09-25 Vancouver, British Columbia - Queen Elizabeth Theatre 09-27 Seattle, WA - Benaroya Hall 09-29 Los Angeles, CA - The Orpheum Theatre 09-30 Los Angeles, CA - The Orpheum Theatre 10-02 San Francisco, CA - The Masonic 10-04 Denver, CO - Bellco Theatre 10-06 Minneapolis, MN - State Theatre 10-08 Chicago, IL - Auditorium Theatre 10-10 Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre 10-12 Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall 10-13 Montreal, Quebec - Place Bell 10-15 Boston, MA - MGM Music Hall at Fenway 10-17 Philadelphia, PA - The Met 10-18 Washington, D.C. - The Anthem 10-21 New York, NY - Beacon Theatre 10-24 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle 10-26 Miami Beach, FL - The Fillmore Miami Beach 10-29 Dallas, TX - Music Hall at Fair Park 10-30 Austin, TX - Moody Amphitheatre

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Air Plot North American Tour to Mark 25th Anniversary of Debut Album ‘Moon Safari’

By Althea Legaspi

Althea Legaspi

Electronic French duo Air are marking the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Moon Safari , with a tour. Launching this fall, the trek will feature them playing the album in its entirety for the first time, as they did on their recent European tour.

The 19-date tour kicks off in Vancouver on Sept. 19 in Vancouver at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, before venturing down the West Coast with stops in Seattle, San Francisco, and two shows in Los Angeles. Midwest dates include Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit before they head to the East Coast and then south, culminating in Austin at Moody Amphitheatre on Oct. 30.

Tickets go on sale March 8 at 10 a.m. local time, with presale available on March 7 at 10 a.m. local time.

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The original album made Rolling Stone ’s “ 100 Best Albums of the ‘90s ” list, describing their space-pop debut as “a truly obsessive  hommage  to easy listening, a sublime Eurocheese omelet. They built their music out of classic Sixties French schlock: bongos, castanets, vintage electric piano, dream-weaver synths, and shag-carpet organ straight from the soundtracks of movies like  Un Homme et Une Femme .”

Air Moon Safari North American Tour Dates Sept. 25 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre Sept. 27 – Seattle, WA @ Benaroya Hall Sept. 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Sept. 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Oct. 2 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic Oct. 4 – Denver, CO @ Bellco Theater Oct. 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre Oct. 8 – Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre Oct. 10 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre Oct. 12 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall Oct. 13 – Montreal, QC @ Place Bell Oct. 15 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway Oct. 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Oct. 18 Washington DC @ The Anthem Oct. 21 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre Oct. 24 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle Oct. 26 – Miami Beach, FL @ Fillmore Miami Beach Oct. 29 – Dallas, TX @ Music Hall at Fair Park Oct. 30 – Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheatre

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AIR PLAY MOON SAFARI

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AIR to Perform ‘Moon Safari’ in Its Entirety During Fall North American Tour: ‘This Album Is a Little Bit Medicinal’

The tour marks the 25th anniversary of the French duo's beloved 1998 debut.

By Katie Bain

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French electronic duo AIR will bring audiences to space this fall during a North American tour honoring the 25-year anniversary of their beloved 1998 debut, Moon Safari .

The pair, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, will play the album in its entirety during the 19-date tour, which starts Sept. 25 in Vancouver and ends Oct. 30 in Austin, Texas. See the complete schedule below.

#TBT Mixtape: French Duo Air On 20th Anniversary Tour, ‘Virgin Suicides’ Score & Longtime Bond With…

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Released in January 1998, the album marked a breakout moment for the electronica genre and earned wide critical acclaim.

While making it, Godin says that “my obsession was to do something timeless, so I focused very hard not to put things in the music production that would date the album. And during the process, many times we felt we were visited by something magic, we felt blessed during some takes; and also when I was listening to the radio, I couldn’t figure how people were making hit singles. It was not in my skills so if you can’t make a hit, the best other option is to make a classic.”

“Before we decided to do this tour, we went to a rehearsal room for three days to see if it was technically possible to perform the entire album,” Godin continues, “and as soon as we started to play the first notes of ‘Kelly Watch the Stars’ or ‘La Femme d’Argent,’ we had a thrill.”

The tour will not feature Moon Safari vocalist Beth Hirsch, who helped forge the album’s dreamy, sexy atmosphere on “All I Need” and “You Make It Easy.” But Dunckel says the pair has “made some arrangements to deliver the soul of these tracks” through their use of a vocoder. “I think that the new arrangements are working on stage,” he continues. “We feel the singer singing without her singing.”

“I think this album is a little bit medicinal,” Dunckel adds. “It heals people’s wounds. Like the wounds I had at the time we made it. That’s what melancholic music does to you isn’t it? The melancholia into the music swallows the listener’s melancholia because the musician and the listener are talking to each other as in a therapy conversation or in a dream.”

Of the original tour behind the album, Dunckel recalls realizing the album “was really working when we toured in the U.S., and in Spain. People were really enjoying the shows and they were so happy to see us for real. I felt it in the audience voices.”

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Air Announces Moon Safari Tour in 2024: Tickets, Dates, and More

Em Casalena

Updated: 

French electronic duo Air is taking a look back at their debut album, Moon Safari , which was released back in 1998. The celebratory 25th-anniversary tour will see the band playing Moon Safari in its entirety for fans of the famed space pop album across North America. The pair will also be playing some dates in Europe and the UK, and are not expected to play Moon Safari in its entirety for those dates. No opening acts have been announced.

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The next upcoming date on the Air 2024 Tour will be on March 7 in Paris, France at L’Olympia. The Moon Safari Tour is expected to end on October 30 in Austin, Texas at the Moody Amphitheatre.

★ Bringing our Moon Safari Tour to North America after the Summer ! Dates & info : https://t.co/NHBOCoFm88 https://t.co/FUqv4I4Iz7 Tickets on sale Friday 03/08 at 10AM local pic.twitter.com/gfUWy1LS2r — AIR (@airofficial) March 5, 2024

Ready to get your tickets to the Air 2024 Tour? Ticketmaster /Live Nation will host a presale event on March 7 at 10:00 am EST until 10:00 pm EST. General on-sale will start on March 8 at 10:00 am EST.

Fans can also get tickets from Stubhub . Stubhub is our top pick for third-party ticketing platforms because they offer the FanProtect Program, which guarantees that all purchases on the platform are protected. No scams, no fake tickets, just the potential to get your tickets to see Air for cheap.

For international fans, pop over to Viagogo to see if any of Air’s international tour dates have sold out.

This could be the last time Air fans will be able to hear Moon Safari live, so don’t wait around to get your tickets !

Air 2024 Tour Dates

March 07 – Paris, FR – L’Olympia

March 08 – Amsterdam, NL- Paradiso

March 24 – London, UK – London Coliseum

May 30 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall

May 31 – London, UK – Royal Albert Hall

June 02 – Zürich, CH – Unique Moments

June 14 – Barcelona, ES – Sónar Festival

June 21 – Rome, IT – Roma Summer Fest

June 22 – Ferrara, IT – Summer Vibez

June 24 – Paris, FR – Philharmonie de Paris

June 26 – Leeds, UK – The Piece Hall, Halifax

June 27 – Southampton, UK – Guildhall Square

June 30 – Dublin, IE – Trinity College

July 05 – Gdynia, PL – Open’er Festival

July 09 – Cascais, PT – CoolJazz 2024

July 16 – Luxembourg, LU – neimënster

July 18 – Ghent, BE – Gent Jazz Festival

July 21 – Berlin, DE – Zitadelle Spandau

July 23 – Vienna, AT – Wien Metastadt Open Air

September 25 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre *

September 27 – Seattle, WA – Benaroya Hall *

September 29 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum *

September 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum *

October 02 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic *

October 04 – Denver, CO – Bellco Theater *

October 06 – Minneapolis, MN – State Theatre *

October 08 – Chicago, IL – Auditorium Theatre *

October 10 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre *

October 12 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall *

October 13 – Montreal, QC – Place Bell *

October 15 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway *

October 17 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met *

October 18 – Washington DC – The Anthem *

October 21 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre *

October 24 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle *

October 26 – Miami Beach, FL – Fillmore Miami Beach *

October 29 – Dallas, TX – Music Hall at Fair Park *

October 30 – Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheatre *

*full Moon Safari set

Photo by Noam Galai

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French Duo Air Announces Moon Safari Tour 2024: How To Buy Tickets

AIR will tour ‘Moon Safari’ for the first time in 2024 to celebrate 25th anniversary

The French duo will play their celebrated 1998 debut in full

AIR will play their debut album ‘Moon Safari’ in full on tour across Europe and the UK next year to mark the record’s 25th anniversary.

The tour, which will be the first time that the French duo have performed their seminal record in full live, is billed as a one night only experience taking place in carefully curated venues across Europe.

Opening on 24th February 2024 at Anitgel at Victoria Hall in Geneva, the eight date tour takes in stops in Milan, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and more cities before wrapping at the London Coliseum on 24th March.

Pre-sale for tickets opens this Thursday (16th November) at 10AM local time. General sale opens this Friday (17th November) at 10AM local time via AIR’s website . 

‘Moon Safari’ featured hit singles ‘Sexy Boy’, ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’ and ‘All I Need’, and quickly catapulted Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel to stardom.

Dunckel said: “We were a duo doing some electronic thing, dreaming of selling 10,000 copies and being recognised by other musicians as cool. Then suddenly, we met the world.” 

He reflected on the 1998 album as “a deep, universal spell, full of love and mystery”.

Godin added: "To me, ‘Moon Safari’ is perfect.”

This Friday also sees the Apple Exclusive release of a Dolby Atmos Mix of ‘Moon Safari’.

Earlier this year AIR released a 25th anniversary vinyl edition of their critically acclaimed debut .

Revisit DJ Mag’s feature on how ‘Moon Safari’ became a masterpiece of '90s electronic music .

Earth Premiere! Playing MOON SAFARI live for the first time Presale tickets Thursday 16 November at 10am local pic.twitter.com/bTMbW4QeK7 — AIR (@airofficial) November 13, 2023

AIR ‘Moon Safari’ tour dates 2024:

24th February – Anitgel at Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland             25th February – Fabrique, Milan, Italy         27th February – Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria                     29th February – De Roma, Antwerp, Belgium            2nd March – Theater des Westen, Berlin, Germany 7th March – L'olympia, Paris, France     8th March – Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands      24th March – London Coliseum, London, UK

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Fatal Kauai Helicopter Crash Intensifies Spotlight On Air Tour Industry

A week before the crash, one federal agency criticized another for allowing risky practices and inadequate communication in the Hawaii air tour industry.

An air tour helicopter crash on Kauai last month that killed three people occurred against a backdrop of conflict among regulators and the tour business over how best to assure safety, including a warning about dangerous practices just a week before the accident.

In a July 3 letter, the National Transportation Safety Board warned the Federal Aviation Administration that some local air tour operators and pilots were drifting toward “risky weather-related operating practices” and flying heavily trafficked sightseeing routes without adequate communication.

The NTSB has criticized the FAA for poor oversight of local air tours and delaying reforms after a crash in 2019 killed seven near Kekaha.

Even as that dispute has played out, the importance of the FAA’s oversight of the air tour business became clearer. A week after the July 11 Kauai crash, recently enacted state legislation requiring more monitoring of air tours by the state Department of Transportation was struck down in the U.S. District Court in Hawaii.

An industry-funded lawsuit successfully argued the FAA had preemptive authority, reinforcing its central role in regulating Hawaii air tours.

The Kauai crash may also raise new questions about the type of helicopter that went down. The Robinson R44 model has been the subject of safety concerns and has a long history of accidents, including mid-air breakups during turbulence.

From 2006 to 2016, the R44 had the highest fatal accident rate among all major helicopter makes, according to the NTSB’s accident database.

The three fatalities on the copter operated by Alii Kauai Air Tours brought the total killed in Hawaii air tour accidents since 2000 to 48.

The letter, from NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy to FAA administrator Michael Whittaker, was the latest NTSB criticism following a fatal crash in 2019 in Kekaha.

That accident five years ago was the result of the pilot’s decision to continue flying in deteriorating weather before losing visibility and crashing into a hillside, the NTSB found. Gaps in communication infrastructure and a lack of safety management at the company, Safari Helicopters, contributed to disaster, the board said. 

During that investigation, NTSB investigators heard testimony about a local culture of “pushing the weather.”

“The biggest thing that we fight here is that old cultural mindset of ‘get it done, just go,’” said Eric Hamp, operations manager from Blue Hawaiian Helicopters.

Homendy’s July 3 letter said the NTSB remains “concerned that there may be a tendency among some companies or individual pilots to develop norms for accepting increasing weather-related risks – until they encounter a situation from which they cannot safely escape.” 

Hawaii operators contacted in the past few weeks pushed back on the idea that there was pressure on the pilots to keep flying no matter what. 

“Pilots get to make the call on weather,” said Casey Riemer from Jack Harter Helicopters. “We will not pressure them, but we will make them justify their decision.”

Curtis Lofstedt from Island Helicopters on Kauai also said his pilots get to decide if conditions are safe to continue flying. 

The owner of Alii Kauai Air Tours, William Zeffiro, declined to comment.

But while the industry presents itself as an effective steward of flight safety standards, observers remain concerned – among them Sen. Brian Schatz, who sits on the congressional committee with oversight of the FAA.

“We clearly have a problem in the state of Hawaii, and people are dying,” he said in an interview.

Rapid Ascent From Waimea Canyon

There were 80 air tour landings per day at Lihue Airport in 2023 — more than half of all landings at the airport and 40% of all the air tour traffic in the state.

Riemer from Jack Harter Helicopters said that nine operators are flying 30 helicopters around Kauai, fewer than 30 years ago. Most of these aircraft are carrying at least two passengers paying a minimum $250 a flight, although most tour options cost more.

Alii Kauai Air Tours promotes its use of Robinson R44 helicopters for its “private and personalized tours” with a maximum of three passengers, including in “doors-off” configuration meant to ensure all-round visibility.

Guy Croydon, a licensed flight instructor, had already piloted the 2009 R44 registered N144KW on three earlier flights along the same route July 11, according to data from the flight tracking website Flightradar24 .

The site uses a number of sources to monitor aviation traffic, including radio signals generated from a transponder on the aircraft picked up by computerized tracking stations — a system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast or ADS-B .

The ADS-B data from N144KW show it followed a path used by most local operators on a one-hour sightseeing tour that takes in Waimea Canyon and tracks along the Na Pali Coast before a return leg tracks through the Waialeale Crater — the location of a fatal crash in 2003 involving a Jack Harter helicopter.

The 9-mile stretch of the route from Honopu to Haena on Kauai's north coast is a known blackout zone for radio, radar, ADS-B coverage and cell reception.

But enough data was captured to show that on its final flight, N144KW behaved differently than on earlier flights of the day about 18 minutes after takeoff.

The deviation occurred at 12.50 p.m. as Croydon began the climb out of the Waimea Canyon with his two mainland passengers, James and Amy Quintua from Kentucky.

At 12:50:37 , the helicopter abruptly ascended for 25 seconds as Croydon tried to clear the rim of the Waimea Canyon. The helicopter ascended at a rate of 1,273 feet-per-minute -- more than double the rate the helicopter flew earlier that day at the same location, the helicopter's ADS-B data shows.

That rate of climb is well above Robinson's published factory specifications .

A replay of the flight available on Flightradar24 shows Croydon struggling to maintain level flight in that segment. That half-minute was, at the very least, inconsistent with controlled comfortable flying. Croydon had reduced his air speed when he entered the Waimea Canyon the data shows, which Robinson's own manual advises pilots flying R44s to do if they encounter turbulence.

N144KW eventually cleared the western rim by 160 feet before abruptly descending by 700 feet-per-minute. The helicopter and its occupants then went through a five-minute period of turbulence before its ADS-B signal was lost at 12:55 p.m. over the Na Pali-Kona Forest Reserve.

About five minutes later, hikers on the coastal Kalalau Trail felt a "huge" and sudden gust of wind blow over them, they told NTSB investigators. A loud “bang” followed and they turned and “saw the helicopter wreckage free falling into the ocean in two sections, a main fuselage section, and the tail boom section” about a quarter-mile offshore.

The lack of cell tower coverage on that part of the coast meant it was something of a miracle that the text message the hikers sent reached Kauai’s police dispatch at 1:20 p.m. Two ocean safety officers on jet skis who reached the location in about 20 minutes reported an oil slick and recovered the body of Amy Quintua. Kauai's fire and police chiefs acknowledged that communication issues delayed news of the accident and the recovery effort.

The NTSB will determine what role weather played in the accident but its preliminary report mentioned a strong pressure gradient off Kauai’s north shore and gusting easterly winds.

The National Weather Service has confirmed there were also two aviation weather warnings – AIRMETS – in effect for the area July 11. AIRMET Sierra indicated lower cloud ceilings, reduced visibility and "extensive mountain obscuration" and AIRMET Tango warned of surface winds up to 30 mph and low-level turbulence on the lee of mountains due to the strong trade winds.

Both weather warnings take on more significance when considering the helicopter’s rapid ascent out of the valley, the model's safety record and the manufacturer's own warning to avoid flying in turbulence and when surface wind speeds exceed 28 mph.

'Mast Bumping' And Mid-Air Breakups

Robinson R44s like N144KW are relatively affordable helicopters in widespread use, “a proven product” according to Chuck Street, the western U.S. representative of the industry lobby group, Vertical Aviation International.

"There's a lot of them out there, and a lot of successful missions and operations, so I think we have to wait and see what the NTSB has to say about that incident," Street said.

At least 10 other R44s continue operating in Hawaii as of Aug. 1, according to FAA registration data .

But the R44 also has a well-documented history of accidents that are linked to its tendency for “mast bumping.” 

Mast bumping or rocking in Robinson R44s has been linked to multiple accidents including mid-air breakups , particularly in low-gravity conditions. These most often occur during turbulence, especially if the pilot makes abrupt or severe changes to the controls. 

Under those conditions, the Robinson’s two-bladed main rotor can seesaw on its tall mast, producing excessive vibrations and, in the worst cases, striking the cabin or tail assembly, case studies show. The NTSB has reported that was likely the cause of another deadly R-44 crash near Bluestem, Washington, less than a month before the Kauai accident.

The 2009 crash landing of an R44 in Alaska brought the issue to a head in the United States and led the NTSB to call on Robinson to track the frequency of mast bumping incidents, alert service centers to the issue and actively look for an engineering solution.

Robinson issued its own safety notice about the dangers of flying its R44 models in high winds especially on the “downwind side of hills, ridges, or tall buildings where turbulence will likely be most severe,” and addresses the problem in its own training materials.

The company has also made design modifications, and last year released an after-market horizontal stabilizer for the tail section of the R44 to address a dangerous tendency for the helicopter to roll right during mast-bumping events.  

A New Tool: Weather Video

One significant safety development has occurred in Hawaii’s air space since the last fatal accident in 2019 -- remote cameras.  

In theory, Croydon would have been able to review near-realtime video images of some of the route transmitted from remote FAA weather cameras sited at Makaha Ridge and Princeville. 

The camera stations transmit images from four different compass points as well as limited textual weather data like wind speed and temperature. The Makaha Ridge station is 6 miles from the reported crash site and in theory, may have captured footage of the incident that is only available to the public for six hours before the files are written over. A Freedom of Information request by Civil Beat for archived footage is pending.

The FAA began installing a network of the cameras across the state in 2022. There are now 21 and another five will be installed on Kauai, the Big Island, Maui and Molokai. The FAA did not confirm the exact locations.

The cameras have been operating in Alaska for more than a decade but for funding and other reasons took much longer to arrive in Hawaii. The NTSB investigation partly blamed the 2019 Safari Aviation accident that killed seven on the delayed implementation of the weather camera program by the FAA. 

Riemer from Jack Harter Helicopters agrees that the 2019 accident would likely have been prevented if the system had been available, describing it as “the biggest advance in aviation safety that I have seen in my 35 years of involvement with the helicopter industry in Hawaii.”

Then why didn’t the new system help prevent the accident on July 11? 

Lefsted from Island Helicopters said that the four weather cams on Kauai do help pre-flight decision-making, but his company relies on a range of information sources.

The FAA also advises that the images need to be used alongside other weather data, and the camera feeds are on a 10-minute delay so might not be showing rapid weather changes, for example.

It’s not known if Croydon checked weather cam footage as he decided whether to proceed with the 12:30 p.m. tour. But neither camera would have given any indication of the issues in the AIRMET warnings or the conditions in Waimea Canyon where data indicates they encountered turbulence.

The decision to go came down to a judgment call during a few minutes on the Lihue tarmac -- the kind of decision air tour operators in Hawaii continue to make every day. 

What About Safety Culture?

The July 11 accident occurred a week before the U.S. District Court in Hawaii quashed state legislation that would have given the state Department of Transportation additional oversight of air tours. 

A spate of helicopter accidents -- including three in 2019 -- led to calls for more scrutiny of the helicopter flights. Act 311, signed into law in 2022, required operators to file monthly reports on their takeoffs and landings, passenger loads, routes and route variations.  

But in a July 22 decision, Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield placed a permanent injunction on the law , finding that the federal regulatory authority of the FAA legally preempts regulation on the state level.

The industry lobby group Vertical Aviation International brought the suit because it said it did not want to see a “hodgepodge of very different kinds of requirements across the United States,” Street said. A total of 10 helicopter companies, including Safari Helicopters from the 2019 Kekaha crash, put money into the action, according to Riemer. 

“Some helicopter companies take safety seriously and proactively worked to improve it," said state Sen. Chris Lee, who co-sponsored the original legislation.

"But it’s very telling when other bad actors would rather go to court to stop any real discussion about how to keep people safe. It’s absolutely terrible, but I’m honestly not surprised there are another three dead people on Kauai.”

The injunction also puts the spotlight back on the FAA’s ability to effectively monitor the local industry, an issue that the NTSB letter of July 3 addresses.

“We continue to believe that the FAA needs to develop innovative strategies for conducting operational oversight of air tour operations to reduce procedural drift toward risky weather-related operating practices,” the letter states.

That could include regular FAA review of video recorded onboard and flight-tracking data to detect trends in weather-related operating practices, including flight path deviations, the NTSB said. The NTSB has been pushing for an expansion of ADS-B technology here as one of its key safety recommendations.

But that additional review would further stretch the resources of the FAA's Flight Standards District Office in Honolulu. The office has been historically underfunded and understaffed and was at the center of a whistleblower scandal in 2020 over alleged misconduct by its managers. That led to an investigation by the Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Transportation that still hasn’t been resolved.

The FAA recently wrote to the NTSB that it has increased the number of aviation safety inspectors in Hawaii to 15 after allowing them to reside anywhere in the state to help with retention. The FAA, however, would not provide a list of staff at the Honolulu Flight Standards District Office. Civil Beat has filed a FOIA request.

Issues in the office were supposed to be addressed as part of the FAA’s congressional reauthorization in May, said Schatz, who sits on the  Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. But before they would support that bill, Republican members including Ted Cruz knocked out everything that wasn’t sufficiently pro-industry, he said.

“The industry won this round, just to be blunt," Schatz said.

Other measures that largely align with NTSB’s recommendations for the local industry are contained in another bill Schatz hasn’t been able to enact yet. He said the issues in the industry can’t be addressed through the FAA or rule-making, but require new statutory standards. 

After the developments of last month, operators and industry voices like Street and Riemer are rallying behind one new mandate included in the FAA reauthorization intended to encourage a culture of safety in local helicopter companies.

Operators are now required to create a Safety Management System -- essentially policies and procedures that assess and manage organizational risk. The FAA will be responsible for reviewing the policies, which must be completed within the next three years. 

"Anything that helps improve safety is good," Lofstedt said.

But critics say those policies are a low bar and are best suited for larger operations like airlines with layers of staff and multiple departments. Riemer says most operators will be able to comply by modifying existing software and training packages .

Acknowledging the renewed scrutiny on the local industry, Vertical Aviation International has convened a safety conference in Honolulu in September to "boost air tour safety” and help operators comply with the FAA's safety management system mandate. 

Thursday: Tour companies are fighting efforts to restrict flights over Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. 

Read the July 3 NTSB letter in full .

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About the Author

Matthew Leonard is a senior reporter for Civil Beat, focusing on data journalism. He has worked in media and cultural organizations in both hemispheres since 1988. Follow him on Twitter at @mleonardmedia or email [email protected] .

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AIR to play classic ‘Moon Safari’ in full for first time at UK and European shows

Tickets for the "one night only experience" across eight cities go on sale later this week

AIR have announced a 2024 UK and European tour that will see the French duo perform their debut album ‘Moon Safari’ in its entirety for the first time.

• READ MORE:  Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?! – Nicolas Godin, Air

Having celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year, Air will tour their ‘One Night Only’ experience for ‘Moon Safari’ in February and March, which will include a show at London’s Coliseum.

The tour – which will be the first time ever the duo have performed the 1998 album live – will kick off at Anitgel at Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland, continuing on to Milan, Vienna, Belgium, Berlin, Paris and Amsterdam, before concluding in London.

Pre-sale starts this Thursday (November 16) at 10am local time, while general sale goes live Friday (November 17) at 10am local time. You can buy tickets for the London show here , and all remaining dates here .

“We were a duo doing some electronic thing, dreaming of selling 10,000 copies and being recognised by other musicians as cool,” said Jean-Benoît Dunckel of the record in a press statement. “Then suddenly, we met the world.”

‘Moon Safari’ featured singles ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’, ‘All I Need’ and ‘Sexy Boy’, and sold millions of copies around the world.

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Dunckel described his album as “a deep, universal spell, full of love and mystery”, while his sidekick Nicolas Godin said that, to him, “Moon Safari is perfect”.

Air’s ‘Moon Safari’ 2024 tour dates are:

FEBRUARY 24 – Anitgel @ Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland 25 – Fabrique, Milan, Italy 27 – Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria 29 – De Roma, Antwerp, Belgium

MARCH 02 – Theater Des Westen, Berlin, Germany 07 – L’olympia, Paris, France 08 – Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands 24 – London Coliseum, London, UK

News of the tour comes after Air announced a 25th anniversary vinyl reissue of ‘Moon Safari’ back in January . They also celebrated  20 years of its 2001 follow-up ’10 000Hz Legend’ with a reissue in 2021.

Air’s last studio album, ‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’ , came out in 2012.

Asked by  NME  in 2019 whether there would be another record, Godin said that he was concerned about ruining the band’s “magic” by releasing a “substandard album”.

“If we’re able to find that magic, we’ll go into the studio,” he continued. “But if not, we’ll move aside and let other people make those magic records.”

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The Lost in Love Experience

Harris in Savannah: SPD motorcycle officer in motorcade seen on ground with bike yards away

Although Vice President Kamala Harris has made a few trips through Savannah, this week will be her first as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. She and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are expected to touch down in Savannah around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon and board their bus for a tour of southeast Georgia, followed by a rally in Savannah on Thursday.

Savannah Morning News visual journalist Richard Burkhart will be capturing it all. Follow our live blog below:

Georgia on Their Minds: With Georgia cemented as battleground state, Chatham County in spotlight with VP Harris rally

Freedom 'is ours by right': VP Kamala Harris speaks at abortion rights rally in Savannah

7:49 p.m. SPD motorcycle officer in motorcade appears to wreck

A Savannah Police Department motorcycle officer that was part of the motorcade appeared to wreck. The officer was seen laying on the road surrounded by fellow officers with a motorcycle several yards in front of him. 

The cause of the accident is unknown and occurred at the Veterans Parkway exit of Interstate 516. Harris and Walz arrived at the Westin Hotel on Hutchinson Island shortly after, concluding Wednesday's bus tour. 

7:05 p.m. Bus stops at Sandfly BBQ

Harris and Walz hit a Savannah-area staple on Wednesday's bus tour. The pair were greeted with applause at Sandfly BBQ where Harris ordered a beef brisket plate with mac and cheese and collard greens, according to owner Keith Latture.

Walz ordered the brisket sandwich.

Many Harris-Walz supporters were seen around the Skidaway Road and Ferguson Road intersections, and a few supporters for Donald Trump and JD Vance were seen by a reporter as well.

Savannah Morning News reporter Joseph Schwartzburt contributed reporting. The video is courtesy of pool reporter Greg Bluestein from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

6:00 p.m. Harris, Walz visit Liberty County High School

Harris and Walz stopped by Liberty County High School, where the school band performed the fight song. Both made remarks to the group, and Harris told students they are the country's future.

President Joe Biden won Liberty County in 2020 with about 61% of the vote. After leaving the high school, the bus headed back towards Chatham County.

A 30-vehicle motorcade carrying Harris and Walz, campaign staff, a CNN television crew with chief political correspondent and anchor Dana Bash, and national, regional and local media is making its way toward Hinesville. Upon arrival, Harris and Walz were greeted by Congresswoman Nikema Williams, Chatham County Commission Chairman Chester Ellis, and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson. Harris chatted with and took selfies with students from Savannah State University before boarding the bus.

The press pool is readying for the arrival of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesotate Governor Tim Walz at the National Guard Air Dominance Center for their two-day bus tour of coastal Georgia. Congresswoman Nikema Williams , who represents Georgia's 5th Congressional District, has arrived.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson stopped to speak with pool reporters ahead of the Democratic nominees' landing. Johnson referenced how Georgia and the coastal region are critical to Democrats' success in the state, and noted having a vice president visit twice in six months is unprecedented for the city.

"It requires the entire state, all 159 counties, all 535 some odd cities engaging in various ways. We believe very clearly that Georgia is in play," said Johnson. "We don't win Georgia without Savannah and Coastal Georgia, particularly Savannah overperforming." 

Johnson, who was a delegate at the recent Democratic National Convention in Chicago described the nominees' visit a "game-changing."

"I couldn't be happier, couldn't be more proud for this community. Love is an action word, and sometimes love is presence, and so being here sends the message that she isn't only interested in Democrats but all Georgians, Republican-leaning and independents."

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https://www.barrons.com/news/arizona-voters-air-fraud-concerns-at-fortified-election-center-eb914c88

• FROM AFP NEWS

Arizona Voters Air Fraud Concerns At Fortified Election Center

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A dozen Republican women filed past wrought-iron fences and barbed wire to tour a sun-drenched building in Maricopa County, Arizona -- not a prison, but an election site.

Outside the room where workers will count votes for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, election official Stephen Richer greeted members of the Ahwatukee Republican Women, a grassroots political organization in the southwestern battleground state, as they signed in and settled into metal folding chairs.

"We know that a lot of pressure is going to be on Arizona because we might just decide the fate of the free universe come November," Richer, the county recorder, said as the air conditioning whirred.

"And so I know that there's going to be a lot of questions."

Much of Maricopa County's preparation for November has been focused on increasing physical security in the face of high tension and disinformation around previous elections. But officials here are also trying to win voters' hearts and minds.

Richer's office has given more than 100 public tours of the county's ballot tabulation facility since he was elected in 2020, just before an onslaught of disinformation questioning President Joe Biden's win culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Arizona, which Trump lost to Biden by some 10,000 votes, was a flashpoint for conspiracy theories about lost votes and illegal ballot harvesting -- many of which AFP debunked.

One woman taking the tour asked Richer, a fellow Republican, about a neighbor who received two ballots for someone who hadn't lived there in years. Another brought up allegations of dead people voting.

"It shouldn't happen," Richer said, before explaining how the county works with federal and state agencies to keep voter rolls up to date and refers potential criminal cases to the attorney general.

Another attendee chimed in: "It shouldn't happen, but it does."

After Fox News made the call on Election Night 2020 that Biden had won Arizona, InfoWars founder Alex Jones and a crowd of armed protesters showed up outside Maricopa County's election center, chanting "Arrest Joe Biden" and "Count the legal votes."

The county started to bulk up security ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, in which Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake refused to concede to rival Katie Hobbs -- despite the fact that several audits confirmed the Democrat's victory.

Officials have updated cameras, increased armed guards and replaced doors to secure areas, according to a list of enhancements obtained by AFP.

In coordination with the county sheriff, the election center has increased security on the roof and implemented "continuous building patrols including officers on horseback."

In a secure area, Richer showed the Ahwatukee Republican Women each step of the vote-counting process -- from the cavernous warehouse where ballots arrive on rented trucks to the room where they are tabulated.

"Every single year we will have thousands and thousands and thousands of ballot packets that we are not able to signature-verify," Richer said in an area with large posters showing how officials examine mail-in votes.

"And those, if not cured, are never able to move forward."

In the fluorescent "Big Room" where votes are processed, he explained how election workers strip ballots of identifying information to safeguard privacy, and store them in locked floor-to-ceiling cages to prevent tampering.

Richer himself cannot even access those areas or the ballot tabulation room, which featured prominently in conspiratorial videos about the 2020 and 2022 polls.

The space is not connected to the internet, and authorized officials must check all their belongings before entering in groups or two or more.

One woman later asked about "unmonitored" drop boxes, which some had claimed were used to lodge illegal ballots in the past.

Richer replied that the county only had two drop boxes -- and both are under video surveillance.

"You can watch them on our website," he said.

County officials hope opening up the election center to voters before November 5 will help assuage concerns about fraud.

"The first thing someone hears about elections is the one that they'll remember," said Taylor Kinnerup, communications director for Richer's office.

Before the tour, several participants filled out a survey indicating they had little confidence in Maricopa's election apparatus, according to data obtained by AFP. Afterwards, all but one said they were "somewhat confident."

Karen Deadrick, a 69-year-old special education teacher from Chandler, Arizona, told AFP the experience made her feel better about the process.

"I know there's a lot of people that will hear one little thing and then they blow it up, magnify it," she said. "The problem really is because people just like to magnify problems through the internet."

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December 12, 2023

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CNN’s Dana Bash to Interview Harris and Walz on Thursday

The joint interview, airing at 9 p.m. Eastern, is the first time the vice president will face sustained questions from a journalist since President Biden withdrew from the race.

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By Michael M. Grynbaum

• Aug. 27, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to her first major interview since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president five weeks ago.

Ms. Harris will appear on CNN alongside her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, for a joint interview on Thursday in Georgia. Dana Bash, the CNN anchor who co-moderated the debate in June between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, will conduct the interview.

CNN plans to tape the joint appearance on Thursday afternoon and air it that evening at 9 Eastern time.

The question of where and when Ms. Harris would sit for an extensive discussion with the mainstream media has started to loom over her candidacy. She has shown little enthusiasm for speaking with reporters in unscripted settings, outside of a handful of impromptu sessions on the campaign trail that left little opportunity for sustained questioning about her policy plans.

Her allies say that, given the accelerated nature of her candidacy, Ms. Harris is being shrewd about her media rollout. She took advantage of last week’s prime-time Democratic National Convention to keep tight control over how she introduces herself to American voters.

Ms. Harris’s critics, especially Mr. Trump, say she has been hiding from scrutiny. Mr. Trump, who has done a flurry of interviews with a variety of traditional and nontraditional media outlets, has repeatedly accused the vice president of not wanting to open herself up to questions.

Within the TV news world, Thursday’s interview is a coveted prize for Ms. Bash and CNN, which has already played a consequential role in this year’s campaign. The network’s debate in June, with Ms. Bash and Jake Tapper as moderators, set off a panic among Democrats that led to Mr. Biden’s withdrawal from the race.

In choosing which news anchor to meet with first, Ms. Harris and her aides had to juggle several factors.

Appearing on MSNBC, a network with a fervent liberal fan base, could have been viewed by some voters as a cop-out. Democratic leaders are wary of Fox News. ABC News is already hosting next month’s debate between Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump, and CBS News is hosting the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 1 between Mr. Walz and Mr. Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio.

Ms. Bash, 53, the anchor of “Inside Politics” on CNN, started at the network as a producer shortly after graduating from college; she has been a stalwart of the channel’s campaign coverage since 2000. Ms. Bash and Mr. Tapper received praise for their efforts at the June debate, where they played a muted role as the candidates clashed onstage.

Michael M. Grynbaum writes about the intersection of media, politics and culture. He has been a media correspondent at The Times since 2016. More about Michael M. Grynbaum

Keep Up With the 2024 Election

The presidential election is 69 days away . Here’s our guide to the run-up to Election Day.

Tracking the Polls . The state of the race, according to the latest polling data.

Election Calendar. Take a look at key dates and voting deadlines.

Swing State Ratings. The presidential race is likely to be decided by these states.

Candidates’ Careers. How Trump, Vance, Harris and Walz got here.

Harris on the Issues. Where Harris stands on immigration, abortion and more.

Trump’s 2025 Plans. Trump is preparing to radically reshape the government.