Two Pilots Killed When a Water-Dropping Helicopter Went Down on the Dome Fire
Greg King and Ryan Cutter died Sunday afternoon southeast of Ostrander Lake. They were the only two aboard.
A Type 1 helicopter doing bucket work on the Dome Fire crashed on Sunday afternoon, killing both pilots aboard. They have been identified as Greg King, 56, and Ryan Cutter. The aircraft, a Eurocopter Super Puma operated by the Oregon company Fly Precision under contract to the Forest Service, went down southeast of Ostrander Lake.
Bucket work means scooping water from a lake or river and dropping it on the fire, flown low and repeatedly over burning ground. The crew had been contracted to the Forest Service's Price Valley Rappel Crew in Idaho and were supporting a helitack rappel operation, the specialised work of putting firefighters into terrain that cannot be reached any other way. That is the job this fire has demanded from the start, because almost none of its perimeter can be walked to.
The remains of both pilots were recovered on Monday and taken to the Mariposa County coroner's office under an honour escort, with firefighters lining the route. The incident team has ordered critical incident stress management support for crews still on the fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. The NTSB has said its personnel will reach the site when fire conditions allow, which is its own comment on where this fire is burning. No cause has been released and none should be assumed.
Fly Precision said in a statement that it was devastated and asked for privacy for the families. The Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection, which identified King, described him as a dedicated aviator and a friend to many of its staff.
This paper has spent a week reporting the Dome Fire as a closure and an inconvenience, which for everyone reading it is what it has been. For the people working it, it is not that.
Sources