Originally Posted by
Robbiee
If the weather on Kauai is so unpredictable, then perhaps they should omit flying through canyons and just stick to the coastline?
The Waimea Canyon itself is generally not too bad weather-wise. The accident site was on the transition between the canyon and the Na Pali coast. It's a somewhat hostile area, generally downsloping with numerous valleys, but helicopters fly over it rather than through it. Sticking to the coastline is impractical as there's a large restricted area extending from the coastline, necessitated by a very high power military radar.