California Wildfire Tragedy: Two Pilots Killed in Yosemite Helicopter Crash
Two pilots died in a helicopter crash while fighting the Dome Fire in California's Yosemite National Park. The tragic accident raises the U.S. wildfire death toll to 18.
Two pilots died early this week in a fire-fighting helicopter crash while attempting to contain a forest fire in California's Yosemite National Park, authorities said.
Greg King, a pilot with the contractor company Precision, was among those killed in the disaster, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection. The name of the second pilot has not yet been released pending notification of next of kin.
According to authorities, the Super Puma helicopter crashed southeast of Ostrander Lake as the crew performed water-dropping operations from a bucket as part of the fight against the massive blaze, officially named the Dome Fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an official investigation into the circumstances of the crash. The tragic accident brings the death toll of helicopter pilots killed this year while fighting massive wildfires in Colorado, Utah, and California to five.
Authorities report that the United States is facing a severe and unusual wildfire season driven by a combination of low winter snowpack, record temperatures, and decades of drought in the American West. According to official data, at least 18 people have lost their lives trying to contain fires in the U.S. since the beginning of the year—a figure that already surpasses the multi-year annual average of 17 deaths.
