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Island Air, has been providing flights to the State of Hawaii, Dept. of Corrections for prisoner transport more commonly known as "ConAir" since late last year. It's nothing like you think or saw in the movie. Prisoner transfer happen everyday all across the country. All are uneventful.
These flights are done and provide a controlled, safe, efficent and economical way of transporting a large number of prisoners between the neighbor islands instead of placing them on scheduled flights.
These flights normally are controlled by the Department of Corrections who advises us on which days they will need a transport and we then provide a crew and aircraft for them.
The ConAir flights are considered by Island Air Supplemental Operations conducted under Domestic Flight Rules.
Under FAR 121.537 Responsibility for Operational Control during supplemental operations, both the Captain of the flight and the Director of Flight Operations are jointly responsible for all aspects of the flight. The Dispatchers act for the Dir. of FLTOPS
As the dispatcher on duty, we monitor the flight and keep track of it. We provide a crew wth a dispatch release and current weather on the day of flight. All other aspects are routine. Crews receive a full briefing from the dispatcher. The aircraft is pre-flighted and then the crew awaits the passengers and guards for the flight.
While all transfer are done, state sherriff deputies closely oversee the operation.
From a dispatching point of view, "ConAir" flights are handled like any other flight.
It's just another day at the office.
It's just another day at the office.
Out of curiosity, don't you guys have a professional aircraft situation software available to monitor your flights instead of flightaware.com?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late response to your question, because were a small company (300 emp) and that our flights around the Hawaiian Islands are short legs, we can meet the FAR requierments by flight following by having alternate means of tracking the aircraft.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked at a previous airline, we had the expensive flight tracking software, but Island Air has been using an altrenate method of flight tracking since before I was here and it has proven itself reliable and cost effective. NO it doesn't mean there is lack of oversight and safety, we (the company) has chosen not to use a pay for flight tracking service.
Thanks for reading my blog and feel free me another question at any time.