Helicopter pilot Donald Torres, a 30-year-old new father and local boy from Hanapepe, by all accounts did a heroic job yesterday of guiding an out-of-control helicopter with its tail rotor ripped off to the only open patch of ground in the Ha'ena area.

"He did an excellent job," said his boss, Inter-Island vice president Ken D'Attilio.

Torres told the FAA that he heard a loud bang as he flew along the coast over Kaua'i's North Shore. People on the ground heard it, too. One, Maya Green of Ha'ena, said it sounded like a gunshot, but with a deeper tone.

The tour helicopter was passing over an area with a narrow, steep, white sand beach, rolling surf, and a dense coastal residential area. Torres had few options for putting the stricken craft down. One was the only large open space in sight — the YMCA's Camp Naue — which has a big grassy field surrounded by large false kamani trees.

D'Attilio said the helicopter was missing its tail rotor and was severely damaged.

"The whole output shaft and blades are gone. There's no reason for that to happen unless something went through it. The only thing I can think is it might have hit a bird. I think maybe an 'iwa hit it," he said, referring to the frigate birds that frequent the area.

Fire Department divers were searching the nearshore waters off Ha'ena Point late yesterday afternoon, looking for aircraft parts.

A veteran helicopter pilot from another company, who asked not to be identified because the cause of the accident hasn't been determined, said the tail rotor counteracts the force of the main rotor, and keeps the aircraft pointed in one direction instead of spinning.

"The nose of the helicopter wants to go to the right. The tail rotor is key to maintaining the balance between the rotor system and the rest of the aircraft. The loss of it causes a spiraling turn. The aircraft is going to spin," he said.

Witnesses said that's exactly what they saw. Princeville resident John Rodden, sitting in a beach chair on the sand at Ha'ena, pointed his right index finger upward and moved his hand in a circle.

"I saw this helicopter going down like this," he said. "The cab around the tail, the tail around the cab."

Another pilot, who was flying another tour during the Inter-Island emergency, said he heard a brief radio transmission from Torres' aircraft. He said he could hear the beeping of a helicopter alarm in the background — presumably as Torres struggled to put his helicopter down.

Preston Myers, owner of Safari Helicopters, said last night that he has complained for years to the FAA about companies, like Inter-Island, that fly helicopters with the doors off.

"There's a safety issue involved with that," Myers said. "Anything can fly out of the helicopter and hit the tail-rotor blade, like a windbreaker, like a hat or a lens cap off of a camera, or a headset."

Myers said Hughes 500 helicopters have a history of objects flying into the tail rotor and causing accidents. He cited the September 1995 crash of a Honolulu Fire Department helicopter as an example. In that incident, the pilot's jacket flew out of the aircraft and hit the tail rotor, causing the helicopter to crash. No one was seriously injured.

Torres, who has a 5-month-old daughter, fought his spinning aircraft to the ground, missing every building in a densely built coastal area. He missed the center of the Camp Naue clearing by only a few yards, hitting a white fence at the edge of the clearing. The FAA said the aircraft's main rotor clipped the branches of the trees west of the lawn before the helicopter landed on its right side. One passenger died, and three others were critically injured.

D'Attilio said he was happy to be able to hire Torres, who in turn had always wanted to fly with his hometown helicopter company, once he had accumulated enough flight hours to suit Inter-Island's insurance carrier.

Torres is from Hanapepe, and Inter-Island flies from the airport at the edge of Hanapepe Bay, Burns Field.

"He always wanted to come back here and fly with us," D'Attilio said.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.