'Flying was Gary's life,' fellow pilot recalls
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
KAHULUI, Maui — Gary Freeman was described yesterday as "the best of the best," a smart and capable pilot who was meticulous about safety and always careful to follow the rules.
That's why employees at Pacific Helicopter Tours Inc. were shocked to hear Thursday that Freeman, 55, had died on the job while hauling supplies to the ordnance removal project on Kaho'olawe.
FREEMEN
"He was the best of the best, a safe and methodical pilot," said fellow pilot Mike McDonald, a friend who flew in combat with Freeman in Vietnam. "We thought it couldn't happen to him."
Freeman's company helicopter, a Huey, crashed and burned late Thursday morning after his long-line cable struck the tail rotor of his aircraft.
Federal Aviation Administration investigators examined the burned helicopter Thursday, and the National Transportation Safety Board is expected to send an investigation team to look at the wreckage Wednesday.
Howard Esterbrook, Pacific Helicopter's director of operations, said it appears pilot error was a factor in the accident.
"It happens — it's an occupational hazard," Esterbrook said. "The conditions weren't right. It could have been turbulence, or the speed he was going. He could have forgotten to take off the line. Who knows?"
Freeman's body was recovered late Thursday afternoon and returned to Maui, where a Maui Police Department chaplain conducted a short memorial service at the Pacific Helicopter hangar at Kahului Airport. Freeman's body was draped in the American flag as more than 50 company employees and friends looked on.
An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday, and a memorial service is planned at 11 a.m. May 31, at Pacific Helicopters.
A Texas native, Freeman was a part-time Pukalani resident who generally worked for Pacific Helicopter six weeks on and six weeks off, returning home to his wife, Cindy, and their 23-acre ranch near Burleson, Texas, southwest of Fort Worth. Freeman is the father of two adult sons who were raised in Texas.
A news helicopter pilot at WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas for eight years in the 1980s, Freeman had been flying for more than 35 years, accumulating more than 10,000 flight hours of utility flying in locations across the globe, including Nepal and New Guinea.
He was an Army combat pilot in Vietnam in 1968-69.
Dan DeLor, of Ozark, Ark., remembered his former F Troop 8th Cavalry platoon mate as a scout pilot you could rely on. "I could never say enough about him as far as his ability as a pilot," he said.
Eight years ago Freeman began working for another Army pal, pilot Tom Hauptman, owner of Pacific Helicopter on Maui. The company later landed the Kaho'olawe contract, transporting 350 workers to the island every day and hauling supplies and equipment to the island.
McDonald joined the company in 2000, reuniting the Army buddies after 34 years. McDonald recalled that in the Army, Freeman was called "weird Gary" because he was so studious and smart.
"He was a thoughtful man," McDonald said. "When he said something, people listened. When someone asked him a question, he usually had the right answer at the right time.
"Gary died while doing what he loved to do. ... Flying was Gary's life, and he was good at it. He loved it," he said.
