He was an Align sponsored pilot. I you look at his youtube channel, he got skillz. So sad, but people have to start realising the dangers of larger helis. These are basically inverted flying lawnmowers.
Last week, one of the presenters of The RC Today show severed three fingers while trying to tach his 700. He was holding an optical tac over the heli while at full rpm on the ground, when it lifted and hit his hand.
These are not toys, they are lethal weapons in the hands of many people, some competent and some not so. It doesn't matter how good you are, something mechanical can go wrong. Always fly a good distance from yourself and others. A link broke on my 600 the other day, nose diving it into the ground. Lucky it was only 6ft up and nowhere near anyone, but it could have been different if i was doing smack 3D 10ft in front of my face.
Be careful guys, and don't get complacent, even with something the size of a 450. They can still do a lot of harm.
Thoughts go to the friends and family of the young man.