Navy airlifts disabled veteran, service dog from flooded home in dramatic helicopter rescue
HALEIWA, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow/Gray News) — A disabled Army veteran and four others were rescued by a Navy helicopter crew after last week’s storm flooded his Hawaii home and left them stranded.
Tyson Byram, 44, his service dog Yoshi, three family members and a neighbor were airlifted one at a time from the yard of his Waialua Beach Road home in Haleiwa after floodwaters surrounded the property.
The storm flooded the first floor of Byram’s home.
“It was just scary as could be. We were sitting with flashlights watching the refrigerators, and there goes another cooler or there goes a trash can, just boats and my boat. My fiancée’s car got picked up from the front of the house and washed 700 feet,” Byram said.
Stranded with no way out
In the morning, Byram flew his drone and saw the surge of floodwaters swept away cars, leaving them in piles with nearly 4 feet of water.
“We didn’t know how stranded we were or how long this was going to take to get out, so all of our vehicles were completely submerged in water,” Byram said.
A four-member crew in an MH-60 Seahawk assigned to Navy Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 37 plucked them from the yard. Byram waved a towel from the front porch to signal the crew.
“It was still about mid- to thigh-high deep going across the middle of the driveway there, but it had dried up enough to where when they came to approach the house. They were able to hover about 80 feet, 100 feet,” Byram said.
An Army veteran and four others were airlifted from a home surrounded by floodwaters.
Memories of Afghanistan
The retired medic said the last time he was in a UH-60 helicopter was when he was extracted from Afghanistan in 2012 after his fourth deployment.
“I never thought I’d ever be inside one again,” said Byram.
Once he knew he was safe in the helicopter, Byram said he almost fell asleep.
“It was instant kind of flashback a little bit. I was super calm,” said Byram. “We were having a really good time in the helicopter. There was some picture taking, but we got to talk to them a little bit when we were landing and just high fives and thanks a lot and everybody’s just doing their job. It’s no different from combat operations overseas.”
The helicopter crew flew the survivors to Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Kapolei.
After the storm, Byram flew his American flag with gratitude for the service members who brought him and his loved ones to safety.
Copyright 2026 KHNL/KGMB via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
For more U.S. news, click here.
