“I want to express our concern and condolences to the families of both men involved in this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families.”
“We will conduct a careful, thorough review to determine all of the facts in this case. We need to know exactly what happened and why, and we need to know exactly what went wrong. When we have completed that review and the facts are known, we will release our findings publicly.” — Mayor Billy Kenoi
(Adapted media release) — A Maui man died and an Ohio man was critically injured in a zip line accident Wednesday morning in Paukaʻa. Both men were employed by the Maui-based Experiential Resources Incorporated (ERi) that builds and maintains zip lines all over the world, according to Gary Marrow, a partner of Kapoho Kine Adventures and owner of Lava Hotline. The zipline construction workers had just made an adjustment to the line and were in the process of testing it, according to police who investigated the accident.
One of the workers, a 36-year-old Maui man, had traveled about halfway across the 2,300-foot span when a tower collapsed and he fell approximately 200 feet to his death, police said.
Another ERi construction worker, a 35-year-old Ohio man, who was standing on the tower, fell about 30 feet. He was taken to Hilo Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition with multiple internal injuries, according to police.
“They were construction guys working on the course the last eight months, working on a course that is not even open yet” Marrow said, referring to a fifth zipline in what Lava Hotline calls its “Honolii Mountain Outpost” course. (See photo above courtesy of Kapoho Kine Adventures.)
The Maui man’s name is not being released until next of kin has been identified. The identity of the Ohio man, who is in critical condition, is also not being released.
As far as Marrow knows, this is the first fatality involving a worker with ERi. He said that company is comprised of “the top guys you go to,” being accredited by the Association for Challenge Course Technology.
“Lava Hotline owns the zipline,” Marrow said, responding to news reports that Kapoho Kine Adventures owns the zipline being installed by the construction workers. “Lava Hotline hired Kapoho Kine Adeventures to handle the reservations. Kapoho Kine does not own the zipline. It takes the reservations.”
“The builders have told us, ‘it was our guys, our company doing the build, it had nothing to do with you’,” Marrow said.
Still, he said, Lava Hotline will be shutting down the Honolii Mountain Outpost for a few weeks for inspections.
ERi is a design-build company based on Maui that has been in existence for about 19 years. Originally based in Kentucky, it moved to Maui two years ago. John White, of ERi, released the following statement:
September 21st, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Watch for more on this guy. The company already was in a pickle a few weeks ago with state DLNR for alleged violations. Looks like a potential lawyers’ delight.
September 21st, 2011 at 4:51 pm
[...] Big Island Chronicle reports: …Both men were employed by the Maui-based Go Zip that builds and maintains zip lines all [...]
Please NOTE the correction in the above story: Both men were employed by the Maui-based ERi… these guys have multiple companies and it gets confusing… Just got a clarification from John White, of ERi… which is the Maui group’s design-build company versus their zipline operation that is called Go Zip… — tceh
September 21st, 2011 at 6:01 pm
we had a failure of a bungy tower in Guam with fatalities and no ziplines have been built there yet
September 21st, 2011 at 8:01 pm
IIRC, the DLNR problem was only building a trail without a permit.
September 21st, 2011 at 10:31 pm
“IIRC, the DLNR problem was only building a trail without a permit.”
Hey, I’m not going to trust my life to a company that sneaks around laws and regulations, even if they are only conservation laws. This demonstrates a definite carelessness and irresponsibility. And this is what happens.
None of this nonsense from Gary Marrow about which company owns the lines and which company takes the reservations is relevant to a criminal investigation or the viability of his zipline business. It looks like he own both companies. Both are going down.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:25 am
This is the second accident for this tour company. They ran Umaumau Falls Zipline about a year ago and had a significant accident involving a tourist and a guide. No death but close. This accident was kept pretty quiet at the time for some reason. I do not know of any other Hawaii Zipline company that has had any serious injuries and here this company has had two in about a year. After the accident a year ago, they fired everyone working for them then hired them all back within the week. Just as a note, the DLNR issue was about building a trail in conservation land. They had a permit from the DLNR to do so but had lied to get the permit in the first place. This is why they were fined.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:25 am
This is the second accident for this tour company. They ran Umaumau Falls Zipline about a year ago and had a significant accident involving a tourist and a guide. No death but close. This accident was kept pretty quiet at the time for some reason. I do not know of any other Hawaii Zipline company that has had any serious injuries and here this company has had two in about a year. After the accident a year ago, they fired everyone working for them then hired them all back within the week. Just as a note, the DLNR issue was about building a trail in conservation land. They had a permit from the DLNR to do so but had lied to get the permit in the first place. This is why they were fined.
September 24th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
September 25th, 2011 at 7:14 am
There are more than two accidents involving injury to persons on zipline operations run by the Gary Marrow and Anthony Dellelis III team. The face plant at Umauma when they ran the place is one; the injured person supposedly entered into a privacy agreement not to sue in exchange for their love and affection and paying his Hilo Medical Center bills and what else I am not privy. The young lady with two bloodied legs, leaving permanent scars on both legs about 8″ above the ankles, is number two. The injury ride described by Steve Miller is number three. And now the “workers” on rides that have been operational for about a week is number four. I’m wondering if there are more incidents. I can’t ask the current employees at the zipline; the ones from a year ago are no longer working there, so far as i can tell.
DLNR should thank Carl and his post above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWAolqHDXGI&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I’d say there is info on the several zipline runs
as shown on the videos.
I have faith in our Planning Director. She will get to the bottom of the snake pit, and deftly point out the untruths. I wish she had a teeth instead of County paper. Please rid us of these vipers. Changing names, Big Island Zipline Adventures, LLC., Lava Hotline LLC, Kapohokine Adventures, LLC, et cetera, and blaming the next guy, the other guy, and claim ignorance. there comes a point where they cannot hide behind “employees”. That point is now.