ROD THOMPSON / RTHOMPSON@STARBULLETIN.COM Island Hoppers pilot Michael Rushton talked with Big Island police officer Lloyd Ishikawa yesterday after Rushton made a safe emergency landing on Highway 130 near the coastal lava flow area. Rushton served with Ishikawa on the police force before becoming a pilot.

Disabled plane lands on Big Isle highway

Police praise the pilot of the tourist aircraft for keeping his cool during the emergency

HILO » Pilot Michael Rushton was on an air tour of the Big Island at about 11:30 a.m. yesterday when his single-prop aircraft developed engine trouble near where lava flows into the sea south of Hilo.

So Rushton did the logical thing. He landed on the nearest piece of flat, paved land: Highway 130.

Only one car was on the road at the time, and Rushton easily maneuvered over it.

The landing was perfect, he said. "Not a scratch. Nothing."

Some of his six passengers, none of them injured, helped him tow the Australian-made Gippsland GA8 Airvan off the roadway onto a wide, grassy shoulder.

Moments after the landing, a man came by on a motorcycle and decided the passengers needed refreshment. He motored away, then came back with beer.

On a 10:20 a.m. flight out of Kona Airport, Rushton radioed other pilots in the air that he was going to make the emergency landing. They notified his company, Island Hoppers, which sent a van taxi to pick up the passengers and take them to Hilo, where the company sent another plane to pick them up and complete the tour.

ROD THOMPSON / RTHOMPSON@STARBULLETIN.COM Two Big Island police officers stood yesterday near a Gippsland Aeronautics GA8 Airvan owned by Island Hoppers after the plane made an emergency landing at the end of Highway 130. Passengers helped the pilot tow the undamaged plane to the side of the road.

"This guy is so calm, so cool," commented police officer Lloyd Ishikawa, assigned to the scene. "He's an amazing guy."

Ishikawa knows Rushton, 37, who served with him for part of Rushton's nine years on the Big Island police force.

Rushton declined to talk about the reason for the emergency, but he maintained a sense of humor.

"I got no tip," he quipped once his passengers were gone.

An employee at Island Hoppers in Kona said the company would not comment on the incident.

Rushton took flying lessons while on the Big Island, then quit the force in 2005 and went to Alaska.

Now he flies in the winter in Hawaii and the summer out of Talkeetna, Alaska, a bit north of Anchorage.

Sometimes he lands on glaciers with retractable skis. Landing on a paved highway is easier, he said.

Since leaving the police force, he has accumulated 3,200 hours of flying time.

Reporters eventually left Rushton waiting for the mechanic, wishing him a good day.

"It's already a good day," he answered. "Everyone's OK."

Company mechanics gave up on trying to fix the engine problem last night, and the airplane remained on the road shoulder.