‘He belonged to everybody’: Family, friends remember pilot killed in Kamaka Air crash

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Loved ones gathered Friday evening at the family home of one of the pilots who died in Tuesday’s plane crash near Honolulu airport.

The gathering for Hiram deFries-Saronitman included not just family, but also his neighbors in Papakolea, his football teammates from Punahou and many more.

“No parent should have to bury a child, but what I do know is my son was amazing and and so loved,” said his mother, Tamar deFries-Saronitman.

“I just gave birth to him, but he belonged to everybody.”

Hiram deFries-Saronitman was just 24. He, along with pilot Preston Kaluhiwa, lost their lives in the crash of the Kamaka Air Cessna. But he was not only remembered as a pilot. He was also remembered for his love of the sea.

“He was a keiki of the aina, he was of the wai, he was of the kai, he was every place and space. But he loved to be on that ocean as much as he did in the plane,” his mother said.

Friends placed lei and flowers on the family boat, the Tammy D, named for his grandmother. Hiram himself was named after his grandfather, who remembered the little boy who grew up on Hawaiian Homestead land.

“I remember watching him run down the street in his diapers. Running all the way down to the end to see aunties and uncles all along the way,” said Hiram deFries.

“He loved everybody, and this is an example. This is him,” Tamar said, looking at all those gathered. “This is him.”

Hiram’s fiancee, Naleoolokahi Faurot, said when he put his mind to something, he got it done - like when he decided to get his pilot’s license.

“In August last year, in four months and four days he went from no certifications at all to being a certified commercial pilot,” said Faurot. “I mean, who does that in four months? Hiram deFries-Saronitman does that in four months.”

The family said they did have worries about him being a pilot, but he tried to ease their fears.

“He was just, ‘uncle, no worry, I got ‘um, don’t worry,’” Kekoa Faurot, Naleoolokahi’s father, recalled. “I couldn’t handle that, you know? He was just, ‘Don’t worry. I have it.’”

Hiram also brought pride to Punahou School, where he played football and had a tight group of friends, who also came to the Papakolea home.

“I would only know all these guys because of Hiram,” said Kaumaliola Aina., “He was the rock, man. He kept us together. He was the heartbeat of all of this.”

“I hope to be like him, you know, to carry his legacy,” said Naleoolokahi Faurot. “When people see him, they see him.”

It was not an easy night, as tears are still flowing. But so many were thankful they knew him.

His grieving mother knows its a reflection of his short life, well-lived.

“I can’t do this without them,” Tamar said, looking at all those gathered. “And he was who he was because everybody here -- he belongs to everybody. He wasn’t ours.”

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