Airports

Byron Tone Joins DOT ‘Ohana

By: Adrienne Crowell

What do you like most about your job?

As a Team we must communicate and respect one another.

On my first day, my supervisor and colleagues shared that we all have our responsibilities and tasks to do. No doubt, however, we still make room for laughter in our day.

What motivates you at work?

I love working with people. Always did. The service window allows me to interact with our airport users. The opportunity for growth in the DOT motivates me to keep learning.

What do you find challenging about your job?

Hands down the plate lunches and ono grinds we share during lunch!

Who inspires you?

My parents, wife and my two kids. My parents for showing me money isn’t everything, respect my Kupuna and make good choices in life.

My wife is the backbone of our family, always putting herself second, and most importantly teaching my children that education matters.

My daughter graduated from Boston College, and my son is heading to UNLV in August. As young adults they inspire me. So as you can see, I will be eating sandwiches for a long time! If you could give your past self some advice, what would it be?

EDUCATION! EDUCATION! EDUCATION! I took what life threw at me. Twenty years ago I owned and built Kilauea Paint which continues to thrive today.

Airports

Training Helps ARFF Heroes to Save Lives

By: Jai Cunningham

“Fire and rescue has the second one on their boat. We have one in our helicopter we are en route to Queen’s,” a U.S. Coast Guard rescue pilot said over the radio.

Those are the miraculous words spoken by in the early morning hours of July 2nd. A 737 jet had lost power in both engines and crashed in the ocean a few miles off Kalaeloa!

It was a multi-agency response, including three of the Hawaii Department of Transportation’s (HDOT) own Airplane Rescue and Fire Fighters (ARFF). Lieutenant Raymond Vegas, Airport Equipment Operator Terrence Kashima, and Airport Firefighter Stuart Lee were ready and able on that fateful Friday morning.

At first the trio manned one of the large trucks because they thought they may have an emergency as the plane lost an engine and was attempting to make it back to the Daniel K. Inouye Airport. But that airport landing turned into a ditch into the sea once the remaining engine lost power.

Lt. Vegas, Kashima, and Lee quickly headed back to the station and raced to the Koa Kai, ARFF’s rescue boat. Lt. Vegas says it took about 40-45 minutes to get to the downed plane. Firefighter Lee, describes what they saw when first arriving on scene, “A lot of it was just debris. We couldn’t tell if it was fuselage, or if it was cargo. It was dark, so it just looked like debris in the water.” Debris that operator Kashima had to navigate through with the help of Lt. Vegas and Lee, “We ended up maneuvering the boat through the debris. It kind of looked like he was on a raft. I don’t know if he pulled everything on him.”

A survivor, and the ARFF guys responded quickly, pulling him on board the boat. One of two pilots who survived the crash, all be it exhausted, “He didn’t say much. He didn’t say anything actually. He was exhausted,” Lt. Vegas said.

A one-hour boat ride back to Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighter Station 2, with all three rescuers working to see how the survivor was doing. They said the pilot had lacerations to his head and was covered in jet fuel, but was coherent, even through he wouldn’t let go of the bag he was clutching to stay afloat.

At around 4:15 that morning the pilot was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Queen’s Medical Center in serious condition, but alive.

The three rescuers said their training took over when they were on scene. Training that served them well and two pilots, who have wonderful heroes to thank!