Island WAS a great place to work and learn because they had a very diverse
fleet, and many customer aircraft that their repair station served.

Hey Bob,
They sure did have a diverse fleet. Before getting married I used to go down
to 34st
on a nice summer day and sit by the bulkhead just watching the endless stream
of sightseeing and shuttle flights.
I have a picture of one such Saturday when they had the heliport filled up with

their 206Ls, Astar, Dauphin and an S-58T and a shutdown ANG Huey. The only
open spot was the "transit" spot.
They had their share of accidents but man
they were one BUSY company back in their heyday. And I mean busy.
Do you remember Bob Barbanes from Island? He was a pretty outspoken regular
here in this
newsgroup but left one day and hasnt been
heard of since. Resigned from PHI and went to work with the new FH1100 company
and never heard anymore. We shared some nice memories from his days working at
E60St then flying with Island.
And Al Cerullo works out of Republic with
his own company.
http://www.hoverviews.com/
I see his TwinStar buzzing around the city
and past my house into/out of Republic all the time.
Those stories you wrote were pretty wild.
I know Island had a number of incidents but that never stopped me from spending
some $$$$ for the sightseeing flights. Pretty cool stuff. I took my brother
up once for his birthday (in one of the Dauphins) and my wife also. Flying
over and around Manhattan is something everyone should experience.
Take care and thanks for sharing,

Gerard