Mon, Jul 28, 2003
Wildfire Season Again Proves Deadly To Aviators
It's wildfire season in the American West.
Sadly, for some fliers and firefighters who risk their aircraft and
their lives, it's also the season to die.
A helicopter ferrying elite firefighters to the Aspen Ridge
blaze in Arizona crashed Saturday, killing two people and injuring
two others. The casualties have not yet been identified, according
to a spokesman for the flight contractor.
There's no word yet on the cause of the crash.
In Idaho, dozens of firefighters attended a memorial service
Saturday for 24-year old Jeff Allen. He was overtaken by flames
after he and a fellow firefighter rappelled from a helicopter into
a rugged area of the Salmon-Challis National Forest.
There's More, Unfortunately.
On Friday, another helicopter went down in northeastern
Washington state. A fire agency official said the sole occupant on
board, pilot Randall Harmon, 44, of Grant Pass (OR), died when his
chopper crashed in the Colville Indian Reservation.
There are still two months left in the fire season. Right now,
wildfires are burning in 12 western states.
** Report created 7/28/2003 Record
15 **
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 6184D
Make/Model: B206 Description: BELL
206B HELICOPTER
Date: 07/26/2003 Time: 1730
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: WHITERIVER State: AZ Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
BELL 206L, N6184D, ROTORCRAFT WHILE TRANSPORTING BUREAU OF INDIAN
AFFAIRS FIRE FIGHTING PERSONNEL, CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN
CIRCUMSTANCES, FOUR PERSONS WERE ON BOARD, TWO WERE FATALLY
INJURED AND TWO WERE SERIOIUSLY INJURED, WHITERIVER, AZ
INJURY DATA Total Fatal:
2
# Crew: 1 Fat:
1 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk: Y
# Pass: 3 Fat:
1 Ser:
2 Min:
0 Unk: Y
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: UNK
OTHER DATA
Activity: Pleasure Phase:
Unknown Operation: Air Taxi (On
Demand)
Departed:
UNK
Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination:
UNK
Flt Plan: UNK
Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: UNK
Last Clearance: UNK
FAA FSDO: SCOTTSDALE, AZ
(WP07)
Entry date: 07/28/2003
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