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Two Pilots Killed as Firefighting Helicopter Crashes Battling Yosemite's Dome Fire
The water-dropping helicopter went down near a lake in Mariposa County on Sunday, killing both crew members as roughly 580 personnel battled a wildfire burning just miles from El Capitan.
Two pilots were killed Sunday afternoon when their firefighting helicopter crashed while making water drops on a wildfire burning near Yosemite National Park, officials said, one of the deadliest incidents to hit California's aerial firefighting fleet this season.
The aircraft, a Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma contracted through Precision Helicopters for the U.S. Forest Service, went down near Ostrander Lake — roughly seven miles northeast of the town of Wawona and about nine miles south of Yosemite's famous El Capitan formation — while using a water bucket to help suppress the fire, according to PBS NewsHour.
Pilots Identified, Fire Still Burning
The pilots were identified as Greg King and Ryan Cutter, according to their employer, as reported by ABC30 Fresno. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the crash, a process that typically takes months to produce even preliminary findings.
ONE OF THE DEADLIEST INCIDENTS TO HIT THE STATE'S AERIAL FLEET THIS SEASON
The helicopter had been assigned to the Dome Fire, which ignited Sept. 15 near Wawona and has since burned about 4.7 square miles, according to ABC7 San Francisco. As of the crash, the blaze was roughly 15% contained, with about 580 firefighting personnel assigned to the response.
Contract fire helicopters like the Super Puma are a routine part of the aerial firefighting fleet the Forest Service leases each summer from private operators rather than owning outright, a system that draws scrutiny over safety and staffing whenever a crash occurs. Aerial firefighting itself remains one of the most dangerous jobs in wildland fire response, with pilots flying low, slow passes near unpredictable terrain, smoke and shifting winds to deliver water precisely where ground crews need it.
Firefighting operations on the Dome Fire continued in the days after the crash, with crews working to build containment lines around the blaze before erratic winds or dry conditions could push it further. The NTSB investigation into what brought down the helicopter is expected to take months.