15-year-old Australian lands plane at Big Island airport during world ‘patient-to-pilot’ flight

On his 2025 world flight, 15-year-old Australian pilot Byron Waller recently landed at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport, completing one of the longest and most challenging legs of his global journey.

His latest leg, the crossing from California to the Big Island, spanned more than 2,000 nautical miles over open ocean.

The flight marks a milestone in Waller’s mission: “From Patient to Pilot,” which aims to inspire young people to chase their dreams no matter the challenges they face.

Waller has been in and out of the hospital during his childhood, “sometimes it was weekly, sometimes it was daily, sometimes it was monthly,” before finally being diagnosed with the bowel condition Crohn’s disease at age 14.

It is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract, with symptoms that include persistent abdominal pain, frequent diarrhea, extreme fatigue and unintended weight loss, which all can significantly impact daily life.

A year before the diagnosis, Waller had his first flying lesson and became obsessed, saying it was a new beginning that gave him the motivation to keep going and get out of the hospital.

When he went into remission, he wanted to raise awarenss for Crohn’s disease and the Queensland children’s hospital that provided his medical care, and which “I’d spent most of my life in.”

After flying around Australia at age 14 to raise awareness, Waller is now circumnavigating the globe in a Sling TSi aircraft (VH-ZMD), the youngest pilot ever to attempt this journey, according to a press release.

The adventure began at his home in Brisbane, Australia, about five weeks ago and has taken the teenager across the Indian Ocean, through the Middle East to Europe and the mainland of the United States — and now to the Hawaiian Islands.

“This leg was the one everyone talked about, the big Pacific stretch,” Waller said before landing in Kona. “It’s something I’ve dreamed about for months, and to finally touch down here in Hawai‘i will feel unreal. I’m so grateful to my instructors, my family, and everyone who’s supported me from the ground.”

The flight from Los Angeles to Kona tested both pilot and aircraft endurance, requiring precision navigation, strict fuel management, and constant monitoring of weather patterns across the Pacific. Each segment of Waller’s 22-country route is carefully supervised and accompanied by a qualified flight instructor.

Waller told the The Guardian that his music playlist is “normally a good bit of Top Gun towards the start of the cruise, and then go into something else. I like to have it quiet for takeoff and landing, just so you can hear air traffic control and stuff.”

In addition to his youth, the challenges for Waller during this trip have included dealing with multiple different environments, pushing himself mentally and physically, and not able to eat his regular diet.

To assist him with the changes, he has spent 6-months preparing and planning how to eat, sleep and manage stress levels — all in an attempt to minimize the risk of a Crohn’s flare up, so he can complete this grueling challenge, his website said.

Kona International Airport welcomed Byron with support from local aviation enthusiasts and airport operations, recognizing the courage and determination behind his global mission.

The stop in Kona is one of several key Pacific milestones before he continues onward to Pago Pago (American Samoa), Suva (Fiji) and eventually Australia, completing his flight around the world on Wednesday.

To help raise funds, he had a GoFundMe page called Teen Pilot Down Under.