During the mutiny on 28 April 1789, Byrne was a loyalist, but he remained on the ship with the mutineers, apparently because his near-blindness added to his confusion. He was put ashore on Tahiti by Fletcher Christian. He gave himself up voluntarily when the "Pandora" arrived in 1791, and subsequently survived the wreck of the "Pandora". He was acquitted of mutiny at court-martial in 1792.