Tyler Braconi is being remembered as someone who loved challenges, radiated joy, sought adventure at every opportunity, and was a “leader’s leader.”
Those are among the thoughts of friends and family who are mourning the death of Braconi, a 35-year-old pilot assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 369, known as the “Gunfighters,” in a crash last week in Imperial Gables, about 36 miles north of Yuma, Arizona, and 45 miles northeast of El Centro.
Braconi, who graduated from Tesoro High School in 2008, grew up in San Clemente and Ladera Ranch. He was killed on Thursday, Oct. 16, after the two-seat helicopter crashed while flying as part of the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course, a seven-week course that runs through Oct. 26 and is hosted at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station. He was part of Marine Aircraft Group 39, which is based at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton.
A second pilot in the helicopter was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, where the pilot was in stable condition as of Friday afternoon, Marine officials said last week. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
“Tyler was a light to all who knew him,” said Shayna Newman, Braconi’s cousin. “He ran hard and fast, but genuinely cared about people. He was a leader of leaders and worked harder than anyone else I know, yet would drive two hours out of his way to attend his friend’s kid’s one-year birthday.”
“He’d go on wild backpacking adventures in Patagonia and still remember to buy birthday presents there for my kids,” she added. “He’d go over and above, showing up for big and small moments.”
His mother, Cristi Silverberg-Rose, said she recognized her son’s quest for adventure even before he was walking.
“He was walking and climbing out of his crib at 9 months old,” she said in an email. “He bungee jumped off a platform at 4 years old and spent every second looking for the next adventure. He was very focused and did everything with excellence.”
Silverberg-Rose said her son was also passionate about becoming a pilot. In elementary school, he started making those goals real by creating projects for class based on his dream of becoming a fighter pilot.
And, his passion continued through high school, where he chose Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, as his path toward a flying career.
Initially, his mother said he pursued a Navy baccalaureate program at Embry-Riddle. But then in his junior year, the Navy discontinued the program. His stepfather, a 24-year Marine, influenced Braconi to consider the service branch and another retired Marine aviator, Col. Fred Cone, “was very influential in his decision to go that direction,” she said.
So, in May 2012, Braconi commissioned into the Marines as a second lieutenant with an aviation contract.
“He thought he wanted to fly jets, but the first time he flew rotor, he was hooked,” Silverberg-Rose said. “His first choice was the Cobra — he loved its maneuverability — and he was elated when he was selected as a Cobra pilot.”
Just days before his crash, Braconi ran a 100-kilometer (63 miles) ultramarathon in Big Bear with his high school soccer teammate Colby Hahn. The two hadn’t been in touch much after going off to different colleges, but ran into each other by total coincidence at a 50-mile race in Big Bear in 2024.
When Hahn, 35, of Costa Mesa, suggested to Braconi that they do the 100 km together, Hahn said Braconi was quick to reply with, “Why not, haha!?”
They both trained up for it and spent Oct. 11 running the 63 miles over 10,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. For at least nine hours of the race, the two former soccer teammates ran together, and Hahn, now a financial adviser, said he wanted to learn all he could about Braconi’s life as a Marine.
“He is the most positive, encouraging leader you would ever want by your side,” Hahn said, adding that he only learned of his friend’s death on Monday, Oct. 20. “His energy is just so happy and so positive. You don’t always find people like that.”
As they ran, Braconi talked about his first 100-kilometer race in Australia, where he spent four years as part of the Officer Exchange Program, assigned to the Australian Army.
Just like with Hahn, Braconi signed up for that race to support a friend who wanted to run it.
“He loved the adventure of Australia; he was all over the place doing such cool things, meeting such great people,” Hahn said. “He was really good at finding good people and staying in contact with good people. He had so many friends, like real friends.”
The hours running side-by-side also presented an opportunity for Hahn to learn more about what Braconi’s life was like in the Marines.
“He was telling me all about the support he got along the way, and that’s why he joined the Marine Corps,” Hahn said. “Why he’s an instructor and has a whole team under him. I got the whole story, which is just amazing. He’s the nicest, happiest guy, and you don’t even know how important he is and the work that he’s doing training others.”
Hahn said Braconi was in for 14 years and was “committed as a lifer, it seemed like, to the cause.”
“He had an amazing life that you don’t think is possible when you’re in the military,” Hahn said. “I think it’s given him incredible experiences, adventures. I can only imagine how many people are devastated by this, just because of the impact of how many people he’s met.”
Lizzy Morrissy, 35, of Encinitas, met Braconi on a dating app — neither was so much looking for a relationship but more for friendship — and for several months they saw each other until he left for Australia in 2020, she said.
“A lot of people say this when someone dies, but he was the best human. He was confident; he was good at everything he did,” she said. “He doesn’t take life seriously; he made everyone in the room feel comfortable and feel loved.”
Megan Ray, whom Braconi had started dating upon his return, shared the news of the crash with Morrissy, who called her friend “one of a kind.”
“The world will absolutely be at a loss without that type of human,” Morrissy said.
Ray said she is “grateful to have seen the world through (Braconi’s) eyes.
“Tyler was such a presence,” she added. “He lived life to the fullest.”
Hahn had recently talked with Braconi about doing another race. Braconi was supposed to head to Japan in a few weeks, Hahn said, and Hahn was planning another ultra race in Thailand in December.
Now, he’s thankful he had the weekend with Braconi where they supported each other through the mental and physical pain.
“I think that’s why I’m hurting so much now,” Hahn said. “If I didn’t have that weekend, I wouldn’t hurt so much. It’s just so fresh, and we went through that experience together.”
For Silverberg-Rose, she said it’s important that her son is remembered as a “man of integrity.”
“He was loyal to a fault and cared more about others than himself,” she said. “He did everything to a level of excellence and loved giving others a hand to achieve their goals. That is what I’m most proud of.”