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Glider crash victim
had a passion for flying
The 22-year-old pilot, who
had just gotten his license,
"enjoyed every bit of life"
Tyler Nelson was a champion snowboarder and custom car builder who traveled the country pursuing those passions before arriving in Hawaii in December to pursue his new passion: flying.
Friends identified Nelson, 22, as the pilot of the glider that crashed on a mountain above Dillingham Airfield in Mokuleia on Wednesday afternoon. He was pronounced dead after rescuers transported him from the mountain to the airfield. The glider's two passengers walked away with minor injuries.
John Streich, the Seattle man who survived the crash, said his heart goes out to the family of the pilot. "He was a very nice kid," Streich told KITV yesterday in a telephone interview.
Streich, 52, and his 12-year-old daughter, Ashley, who both suffered only cuts and bruises, hung upside down in the overturned glider for 2 1/2 hours until they were rescued.
The glider dropped suddenly about 15 minutes into the flight, Streich told KITV.
"We were in trouble, obviously," Streich said. "And he fought it best he could and got the plane semi-under control, and then he lost control again and said, 'We're going to hit.'"
The crash occurred seconds later.
"We just hit. And we heard the popping and the bang and the breaking of glass or plastic, and we found ourselves upside down," Streich said.
For a time, as they waited to be rescued, the two survivors could hear Nelson breathing.
"We just sat there and talked as much as we could," Streich said. "And if we heard a plane or something, we kind of put our arm outside so they would know that we were still there."
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was scheduled to interview the survivors yesterday and officials of Soar Hawaii Sailplanes Inc., the glider's owner, today.
The NTSB plans to retrieve the wreckage in the next few days, said Scott Ishikawa, state Department of Transportation spokesman.
The city's Department of the Medical Examiner determined that the pilot died from head injuries. It has yet to positively identify him.
Nelson has no family in the islands. His father, Richard, said he plans to come to Hawaii to take his son's body back to his native Wisconsin. He said his son was an inspiration to a lot of people.
"We lost a good person. He was somebody who enjoyed every bit of life," he said.
Nelson said his son received his pilot's license two weeks ago and was proud of his certification.
His sister, Riana, said her brother started flying with passengers after he passed a test for his commercial pilot license two to three weeks ago. She said he called home Tuesday and talked to their mother.
"He said he took a couple up and they gave him a $30 tip. He was so proud," she said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Don Walker said he could not locate Nelson's name on the FAA's database of licensed pilots in Hawaii.
Riana said her brother started snowboarding when he was 12, and by 16 he placed 12th in the nation for his division in a competition in California.
His friend Gabriel Roman said Nelson also went all over the country to enter his customized 1990 Acura Integra in car shows.
About a year and a half ago, Nelson competed in a snowboard competition in Colorado. "After the competition in Colorado, he went to Hawaii and raved about it," Roman said.
He returned to Hawaii before last Christmas.
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