Accidents
Helo Pilot Relives Dark Day, on Road to Recovery
Helicopter Pilot Details Tailboom Separation Crash in NTSB Safety Symposium
Helicopter pilot and crash survivor Tim Hunter
Veteran helicopter pilot Tim Hunter was at the controls of a Bell 407 tour helicopter in Hawaii on June 8, 2022, when it suffered an inflight tail boom detachment. All six on board survived the crash, but Hunter has faced a long road back to active duty. © Mariano Rosales/AIN

“I tried to gain control of the helicopter, adjusted my headset and gazed outside and all I could see was reddish brown and blue, reddish brown of the lava and blue of sky, literally over and over we went, all the way yawing faster and faster.” So said Tim Hunter, the pilot of an air tour Bell 407 that crashed in Hawaii on June 8, 2022, after its tail boom separated in flight.

Speaking at the Heli-Expo Safety Symposium on Monday, Hunter described how he was flying his fourth flight of the day—a sunset tour with five passengers onboard. Hunter was flying at 1,500 feet and about 130 knots just 30 minutes into the two-hour tour from the Paradise Helicopters base at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport (PHKO) when he heard a loud “whoosh” and was pitched forward with enough force to dislodge his headset.