07-20-2014, 02:24 PM
There's a full crew on standby at Hilo. There's a crew house where the pilots and EMTs stay when on call.
There are two separate companies flying King-Airs, so you'll see one or two of these small twin-engine aircraft at Hilo, and usually one parked at Waimea and one at Kona.
Another company has a twin-engine helicopter stationed at the Kona Airport. I think the traffic times from the hospital to the airport are long enough that it makes sense to fly the helicopter from Kona to the hospital, then directly to HNL. In Hilo, the airplane is faster.
Source: I recently interviewed with Hawaii Life Flight, for a pilot position.
Also: they don't usually fly unless the patient is stabilized. One of the benefits of the King Air is that they can keep the cabin pressurized to sea level, useful if you have a medical condition that can't handle the 8,000 feet that Hawaiian or the other airlines pressurize to.
Aloha!
There are two separate companies flying King-Airs, so you'll see one or two of these small twin-engine aircraft at Hilo, and usually one parked at Waimea and one at Kona.
Another company has a twin-engine helicopter stationed at the Kona Airport. I think the traffic times from the hospital to the airport are long enough that it makes sense to fly the helicopter from Kona to the hospital, then directly to HNL. In Hilo, the airplane is faster.
Source: I recently interviewed with Hawaii Life Flight, for a pilot position.
Also: they don't usually fly unless the patient is stabilized. One of the benefits of the King Air is that they can keep the cabin pressurized to sea level, useful if you have a medical condition that can't handle the 8,000 feet that Hawaiian or the other airlines pressurize to.
Aloha!