Air Charter Service Called Into Action in Hawai‘i Again

ACS America President Richard Thompson. PC: ACS

Following the destruction caused by Hurricane Lane in Hawai‘i last in August 2018, Air Charter Service’s Texas office was asked to fly in more than 120 tons of relief goods, as well as a search and rescue team.

This came just months after ACS was involved in flights relating to the problems caused by Kilauea Volcano.

“The island was still reeling from the eruption in May, when Hurricane Lane hit in August,” said ACS Americas President Richard Thompson. “The islanders were facing sinkholes, landslides, loss of electricity and mass displacement, with many people having to leave their homes.

“We were contacted to transport a search and rescue team from the US West Coast to Honolulu just before the storm hit, in anticipation of what destruction it may leave behind,” Thompson said. “We were able to find a Gulfstream IV able to fly in the eight-strong group. We then sourced an MD-11 to fly in more than 120 tons of relief goods on two separate flights—one directly after the storm, on Aug. 26, and one a couple of days after that. Much of the cargo was for children who had been affected—on board were diapers and baby food, amongst other vital supplies.

“This is the second time in the space of just a few months that we have had to arrange urgent flights to the island in response to natural disasters. In May ACS was contacted to urgently fly 68 tonnes of the fire retardant ore, barite, to the island in an attempt to limit the damage when lava from Kīlauea Volcano reached a geothermal power plant. And now they’ve had to deal with Hurricane Lane and its aftermath, in which the wind speed reached 160 mph and more than 50 inches of rain fell over the space of four days!

“Hopefully, Hawai‘i can now fully recover from what has been a devastating year for the Big Island.”

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