Island Hopper Airtours

[livermorenancy]

Has anyone used Island Hoppers for Kona Circle Island Volcano tour? Hope to hear of your experiences. Safety record sounds good but wondering if there is big difference between doing the tour in an airplane vs a helicopter. Thanks for any info. Nancy

[spleen93]

OK ... I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring this up or not because I didn't want to cause any undue alarm. But now that you've brought up the safety record for Island Hoppers, I think it's important that you know that they just had a crash ... see [url="http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Apr/19/ln/ln04a.html"]this[/url] article.

Crashes happen rarely and I really think that the safest place to be after a crash takes place is the company that it happened with since they'll be doubly careful. The NTSB is still looking into the crash and no cause has been given. The 2 visitors are still at the burn unit at Straub Hospital here on Oahu.

I'll also add that it's much safer to have an engine failure or other mechanical failure in a plane than a helicopter since a plane can at least glide down ... a helicopter turns essentially into a rock.

Spleen

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Carnival Conquest - W. Caribbean - 10/03, Celebrity Infinity - Alaska - 6/03, Ocean Princess - Alaska - 7/02

[spleen93]

And [url="http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Apr/23/ln/ln40a.html"]this[/url] also is the latest update on how they're doing ...

Spleen

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Carnival Conquest - W. Caribbean - 10/03, Celebrity Infinity - Alaska - 6/03, Ocean Princess - Alaska - 7/02

[livermorenancy]

Thanks for the "heads up". I will keep a lookout for further details of the crash. Agreed-rather crash in a plane than a helicopter. Still a long ways out till the cruise so plenty of time to cancel. Thanks again spleen93 [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]Nancy

[livermorenancy]

spleen93-any word on Island Hoppers company since crash??? Nancy

[spleen93]

Nancy - no other stories have been posted at this time. Not sure if there's been any further updates. I'll keep an eye out though.

Spleen

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Carnival Conquest - W. Caribbean - 10/03, Celebrity Infinity - Alaska - 6/03, Ocean Princess - Alaska - 7/02

[livermorenancy]

Thanks again!!!! It still sounds like a great tour and adventure. Have my camera and lens all ready!

[img]http://www.toons.artie.com/alphabet/ralph/color_cycling/arg-n-50-transa.gif[/img] [img]http://www.toons.artie.com/alphabet/ralph/color_cycling/arg-a-50-transa.gif[/img] [img]http://www.toons.artie.com/alphabet/ralph/color_cycling/arg-n-50-transa.gif[/img] [img]http://www.toons.artie.com/alphabet/ralph/color_cycling/arg-c-50-transa.gif[/img] [img]http://www.toons.artie.com/alphabet/ralph/color_cycling/arg-y-50-transa.gif[/img]

[spleen93]

I'm sure it'll be fine. Have a great time!

Spleen

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Carnival Conquest - W. Caribbean - 10/03, Celebrity Infinity - Alaska - 6/03, Ocean Princess - Alaska - 7/02