Yesterday I blogged about the demise of long-time inter-island passenger carrier Aloha Airlines and I've got a first-hand, eyewitness account now of the chaos of the shutdown of the airline from none other than KXLY4's Jeff Humphrey.

Every spring Jeff takes one for the team to man the KXLY4 Spring Break Hawaii Bureau. For a week Jeff hunts for stories while snorkeling, riding catamarans chasing dolphins and body surfing on the Big Island and Kauai. Jeff learned the ropes of being a TV reporter by going to work with his dad back in the day, so Jeff has done the same with his family, taking them to the Hawaii Bureau each year with him in search of great surf and a story or two.

So without further adieu, here's Jeff's story:

Getting out of Hawaii like the fall of Saigon

KONA, HAWAII -- Travelers leaving Kona and Hilo Monday were greeted at airports across the islands with the stunning news that Aloha Airlines was unceremoniously canceling passenger service Monday, March 31st.

"Oh my God Rob, it was like the fall of Saigon at the airport," Lori Humphrey said. "It was like everyone was on the rooftops scrambling to get on the helicopters."

While the Humphreys had advance notice of Aloha's shutdown many travelers were unaware of what was going on until they got to the airport, leaving many stranded at the airports trying to find alternate connecting flights to other islands.

"Pandemonium" was one word used to describe the frenetic activity at the Aloha ticket counter with frustrated fliers trying to find out what happened to their flights.

The Humphrey family, which had flown to the big island from Honolulu last week on Aloha, were able to get on "the last flight" Aloha had out of Hawaii to their next destination, Kauai.

Jeff Humphrey took the incident in stride, focusing instead on the more important news of the day for Kauai residents and tourists.

"Dude they found a 10-foot long Tigershark in Hanalei Bay this morning and they closed the beach," he said.

"Someone pulled a Chief Brody huh?" I asked, making what for people who were born after 1975 won't understand is a Jaws reference.

In other news from the KXLY4 Spring Break Hawaii Bureau Jeff related the other big news was stepping on a sea urchin while surfing and have "an allergic reaction", which caused him to get a 104-degree temperature and inadvertantly miss out on a good 24 hours of in-depth investigating of the surf zone off Hawaii.

"Dude, you're having like a Clark Griswold Hawaiian Family Vacation this year," I told him over the phone from the mainland.

"Yeah but I'm all better now and I'm in Princeville and they're getting ready to seat us at our table with a beautiful view," he said as he was sitting down for dinner at a resort restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Coming up next from the KXLY4 Spring Break Hawaii Bureau: An in-depth comparison of body surfing on Hawaii and Kauai, how not to step on a sea urchin and a short, family-friendly commentary about how much more enjoyable the Hawaiian climate is in March compared to last weekend's snowfall in Spokane.