The two workers injured — one fatally and the other critically — in a zipline accident on Hawaii island were brought in this summer to do the job they loved, said John White, president of Experiential Resources Inc.
Ted Callaway "had a passion for ziplines," with more than three years’ experience in the industry, said his employer. "He mentioned multiple times he loved his job. He enjoyed working with us and for us."
The 36-year-old married man, originally from Pasco, Wash., was killed Wednesday morning when he fell from the zipline 200 feet onto a dry riverbed after one of the two towers supporting the 2,300-foot wire cable toppled, police said.
Police said the men were tightening the line because customers complained it was too slow, but Gary Marrow, owner of Lava Hotline LLC, the zipline course operator, and KapohoKine Adventures, which books the tours, maintains that zipline had not yet been open to the public.
Curtis Wright, a 43-year-old Ohio man, was critically injured when the tower he was standing on fell over.
"He’s kind of a lifetime adventure person and started working at summer camps when he was 16 years old," White said.
Wright, who is married with young children, has 25 years in the industry and has been involved in rope courses and outdoor camps.
His mother, Linda, remains with him while he is hospitalized in Honolulu.
Wright has shown slight improvement, White said. "We’re optimistic that things are progressing in the right track."
His wife, Heather, issued a statement Friday, saying, "I would like to thank all the family and friends for their love and support. Please keep Curtis and the Callaway family in your thoughts and prayers. Curtis is in stable condition, and I have every confidence he will pull through this."
She also thanked the staff of Experiential and a related company for their support.
White, the Experiential president, said his company brings in roughly four to five builders at a time for specific projects. They builders work three months or longer, doing everything from clearing the site to constructing the towers.
The Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Committee is investigating the workplace accident, but it is unclear whether any state agency would have investigated had it been a customer involved in the accident, because ziplining is an unregulated activity.
Hawaii County officials with the Building Division are also investigating.
Area residents said they have been angered by the way Lava Hotline owner Marrow and his companies have acted in defiance of state conservation laws by installing a trail, stairs and walkway in Honolii Stream and Honolii Gulch and trying to get approval to build a heliport. The state Board of Land and Natural Resources fined the operation $16,500 for the conservation zone violations.
Cindy Inoue, president of the Wainaku-Kaiwiki Community Association, wrote her legislator renewing her request for legislation to regulate ziplining. She said association members were saddened and "angered that it takes a death before safety issues are addressed. … We must act now before more accidents occur."
