A Quarterly Technical Assistance Bulletin on Disaster Behavorial Health

Tourists, Terrorism, and Disasters

I was in bed a little before 7 a.m. on Sunday, September 25, 1999, when I received the news that the wreckage of Big Island Air flight 58 had been found in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. All 10 people on board died when the plane crashed onto the slopes of Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano.

While larger airlines were required to have plans in place under the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996, smaller operators like Big Island Air were not. It had no plan and neither, it turned out, did anyone else.

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The Dialogue is an arena for professionals in the disaster behavioral health field to share information, resources, trends, solutions to problems, and accomplishments. Readers are invited to contribute profiles of successful programs, book reviews, highlights of state and regional trainings, and other news items.