Wildlife Services Suspend Aerial Operations

Two men were killed when their Aviat A-1 Husky went down on Parker Mountain, near Loa, UT during a routine coyote hunt Friday.

Pilot Joseph Harris and passenger Glen Stevenson were predator control officers with the US Department of Agriculture working for the Utah Wildlife Services and were searching for coyotes suspected of killing lambs in the area the day before, said USDA spokeswoman Carol Bannerman.

Trappers, flying low, often shoot coyotes from helicopters and airplanes, said Kyle Stephens, deputy commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

"Any time you're in this type of aircraft and flying low to the ground on hilly terrain, there's a higher degree of risk," he told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Wildlife Services works in conjunction with the UDAF, which is under the USDA, to control predators to protect livestock and coyotes are the main target. The service has long been criticized by various environmental groups saying it's a waste of taxpayer money as well as being dangerous and ineffective.

Aerial operations by the Wildlife Services were suspended Friday pending the investigation, according to the USDA.

This was the first fatal aircraft accident for the department since 1998.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 9602R        Make/Model: HUSK      Description: A-1 HUSKY
  Date: 06/01/2007     Time: 1425

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
  City: LOA   State: UT   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES WHILE CONDUCTING PREDATOR
  CONTROL DUTIES, THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, NEAR LOA, UT

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   2
                 # Crew:   2     Fat:   2     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: K4HV 011440Z 00000KT 60SM SKC 19/M12

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Public Use      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  FAA FSDO: SALT LAKE CITY, UT  (NM07)            Entry date: 06/04/2007

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/ut.html