The crash of a Kamaka Air plane in Honolulu Tuesday has again exposed the fragility of the state’s interisland transport infrastructure and left neighbor island residents temporarily without an essential service.
Two men died when a Cessna 208B struck an unoccupied building on the perimeter of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport at approximately 3:15 p.m. Tuesday in Honolulu.
The aircraft had narrowly missed an aviation fuel farm and the Delta Airlines cargo area. National Transport Safety Board investigators were on scene Wednesday morning and the preliminary report will take several months.
The single-engine 14-year-old Cessna had been on a training flight to Lānaʻi with newly certified flight instructor Preston Kaluhiwa, 26, and pilot-in-training Hiram deFries-Saronitman, 24, on board. While this was a training flight, Kamaka Air provides daily interisland cargo services.
Kamaka Air 689 was taking off from Honolulu for a return flight to Lānaʻi when one of the occupants reported to air traffic control that the plane was “out of control” shortly before impact, the FAA said.
Kamaka Air halted operations Wednesday, but planned to reopen Thursday, a staff member confirmed by phone.
The accident had almost immediate consequences for the communities on neighbor islands reliant on Kamaka Air’s daily deliveries.
On Lānaʻi, staff at the island’s only pharmacy scrambled Wednesday to strike a deal with an alternative air freight carrier to deliver its daily pharmaceutical shipments.
“We have thousands of dollars of prescription medications that were supposed to come in that didn’t come,” said Jolene Segault, manager of Rainbow Pharmacy. “It’s pretty hard right now. We’re having to tell patients we can’t get our medications for the next couple of days.”
The Honolulu crash is the second fatal air accident in Hawai‘i this year. Three people including the pilot died in July when an helicopter on an aerial tour crashed into the ocean off Kauaʻi.
Crash Immediately Felt On Neighbor Islands
Medical providers and the 10,700 residents on Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi have grown adept at navigating the disruptions to deliveries and passenger services.
Mokulele Airlines — the company which flies passengers to the two islands — has been a frequent target of resident frustration over cancellations and travel delays, often involving medical appointments. In August it grounded a portion of its fleet for a week to address the findings of a routine maintenance check, leaving residents scrambling.
On Wednesday, Lānaʻi pharmacy owner Kert Shuster spent the morning dealing with the suspension of Kamaka Air deliveries trying to negotiate a temporary agreement with Lanai Air, a private air charter service owned by the island’s billionaire majority landholder Larry Ellison.
“Switching to Lanai Air is kind of a big deal for contract purposes, according to my wholesaler,” Shuster said. “They set up a contract with Kamaka Air so arbitrary switching to Lanai Air may void their contract. We’re not sure for this very second what’s going to happen.”
The only other air freight carrier servicing the island is FedEx, which Shuster described as too expensive for the pharmacy’s daily orders.
Porter Hodgins, a Kamaka Air subcontractor who unloads the planes and delivers shipments on Molokaʻi, confirmed he was expecting Kamaka Air operations to resume Thursday. The regular air cargo service is essential for transporting pharmaceuticals, dialysis and blood test results, fresh fish and produce.
The island’s only hospital, dialysis center and pharmacy rely on it, Hodgins said.
“If something were to happen to Kamaka, that’s it — we’d have to bring in a new carrier,” he said. “There’s a high percentage of elderly (people) on Moloka‘i so it’s really important that this service stays running.”
The executive vice president of Mokulele Airlines said Wednesday it had transported some medications and medical supplies that would have flown with Kamaka Air.
Lānaʻi resident Diane Preza said Kamaka Air is a lifeline for the 140-square-mile island west of Maui. When her washing machine and dryer broke recently, she used Kamaka to bring in new appliances so she could wash her clothes.
“A lot of us ship things on the barge, however that comes in once a week, it’s not as convenient, and if you really need something we rely on Kamaka,” she said.
Private Equity Is Disrupting General Aviation
It’s been a turbulent three years for Kamaka Air which has been through major changes in ownership, management and staffing.
Kamaka Air, founded in 1993, operates on-demand charters and scheduled flights transporting everything from hazardous materials, live animals and perishable goods using a per-pound pricing model.
In February 2022, Trinity Private Equity Group, a Texas-based fund manager and RLG Capital based in Park City Utah, acquired an 80% majority stake in the airline.
This tracks with pattern of merger and acquisition by private investors attracted by the growth potential in business and cargo aviation services, according to the Aviation Business Journal. Investment groups find the sector attractive because of the demand for e-commerce services fueled by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Honolulu accident came less than two years after another Kamaka Air Cessna crashed in January 2023 during an instrument approach to the Molokaʻi Airport in dark night conditions. The plane was damaged and one man seriously injured.
An NTSB investigation of that crash found it was the result of the pilot’s failure to maintain adequate altitude during a left turn. During that turn the 51-year-old pilot lost sight of the runway and the aircraft slammed into nearby terrain. The pilot told the NTSB there were no mechanical malfunctions prior to the accident.
In May, Kamaka Air announced the appointment of two former directors of Southwest Airlines to senior management; Dave Hinderland as CEO and Ken Gile as COO. Executives Jim Petrides and John Gravener remained as board members, according a company release.
Hinderland said the pair want to duplicate the same Southwest “secret sauce” — namely “outstanding customer service with reliable frequent flights to key airports,” according to the American Journal of Transportation.
He also said that there were currently no plans for the 85-person company to expand operations beyond Hawaiʻi.
Then in June, the company was forced to suspend operations due to staffing issues. Hodgins, the Kamaka Air subcontractor on Molokaʻi, said the company was forced to halt service for eight days after the departure of its chief pilot and the resignation of its director of operations.
As of Wednesday, Kamaka was listing a vacancy for an operations manager on its website.
The accident Tuesday leaves Kamaka with a fleet of six Cessna aircraft; one Sky Courier and five Caravans.
Civil Beat’s community health coverage is supported by the Cooke Foundation, Atherton Family Foundation and Papa Ola Lokahi.
