11-10-2007, 02:39 AM
Aloha;
My name is Darl Evans and I am the Chief Pilot for Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. I have been with Blue Hawaiian on the Big Island since we opened in Hilo back longer than I care to remember. Over the years I have been involved with our operations not only here at home but also on Maui and now Kauai. Having established our main base of operations on Maui we began operations on the Big Island with one aircraft here in Hilo and have grown to be the largest helicopter operator in the state of Hawaii. We have, and continue to face many challenges. I can tell you, without reservation, that our company works diligently to minimize our operational impact on the communities in which we all live and work. This is a formidable task in which we devote considerable time and resources. I have, over the years, seen many changes in our operations areas. It has been my observation that as we change operations to address areas of concern, we inevitably create new ones. This would seem to be at the root of the current situation. We have recently changed our procedures as the areas that were working well in the past have now become populated. It would seem that we have some more work to do. The first step is to have good communications with those involved.
We have had many similar issues and have been successful in resolving the vast majority of them. Our program on Maui continues to be a benchmark for the industry. We would like to achieve the same level of success here on the Big Island. This cannot be accomplished without active participation and effective communication from all concerned. We would welcome the opportunity to begin this process.
My name is Darl Evans and I am the Chief Pilot for Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. I have been with Blue Hawaiian on the Big Island since we opened in Hilo back longer than I care to remember. Over the years I have been involved with our operations not only here at home but also on Maui and now Kauai. Having established our main base of operations on Maui we began operations on the Big Island with one aircraft here in Hilo and have grown to be the largest helicopter operator in the state of Hawaii. We have, and continue to face many challenges. I can tell you, without reservation, that our company works diligently to minimize our operational impact on the communities in which we all live and work. This is a formidable task in which we devote considerable time and resources. I have, over the years, seen many changes in our operations areas. It has been my observation that as we change operations to address areas of concern, we inevitably create new ones. This would seem to be at the root of the current situation. We have recently changed our procedures as the areas that were working well in the past have now become populated. It would seem that we have some more work to do. The first step is to have good communications with those involved.
We have had many similar issues and have been successful in resolving the vast majority of them. Our program on Maui continues to be a benchmark for the industry. We would like to achieve the same level of success here on the Big Island. This cannot be accomplished without active participation and effective communication from all concerned. We would welcome the opportunity to begin this process.