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2 August 2024
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Firefighting aeroplane crashes in Oregon, pilot killed, US
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Late on the evening of Thursday, 25 July 2024, a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT) fighting a fire north of Burns, Oregon in the US, was reported missing after not returning from a fire mission before sunset. Searches by aerial firefighting aircraft in the area continued until sunset while emergency services, including the Oregon National Guard, continued searching for the aircraft overnight.
The SEAT aircraft belonging to North Dakota-based Aerial Timber Applicators, was located on Friday morning after an extensive search and the pilot was confirmed lost in the crash.
A Grant County Search and Rescue team located the aircraft Friday morning and confirmed the death, said Lisa Clark, a Bureau of Land Management information officer for the Falls Fire. The plane was located in steep, forested terrain on Friday morning after the search was suspended at nightfall the day before, Clark said.
"The pilot was brought to John Day, Oregon for formal identification and notification of the family. There was a procession that brought the pilot out from the incident to town,” Clark said.
The FAA identified the plane as an Air Tractor 802A. The pilot was identified Sunday as 74-year-old James Bailey Maxwell by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Maxwell was a pilot for more than 54 years and had logged 24 000 hours of flight time, much of it in single-engine air tankers, the smallest and most nimble fixed-winged aircraft used for fighting wildfires. He also worked as a crop duster.
“I respected him my whole life,” said Jim Pope Jr, of Leading Edge Aviation at Clarkston. “I’m younger than him and I grew up knowing him and his ability as a pilot. He was a very good pilot.” Maxwell flew for the US State Department in a coca eradication project as part of the war on drugs. Pilots would drop herbicides on the plants used to make cocaine in an effort to disrupt production of the narcotic and its eventual distribution and use in the United States.
He was shot down during one mission and suffered burns that left him scarred. “It never really got him down,” said Pope. “He never really focused on ‘poor Jim’. He was always very positive.”
His wife, Glenda Maxwell, told the Oregonian newspaper that he loved his work. “He died doing what he wanted to do,” she said in an article published Tuesday.
Clark said Maxwell had dropped a load of retardant on the Parasol Fire in Grant County, north of the Falls Fire and was returning to Burns to reload. "We immediately utilised firefighting resources and the aircraft associated with the fire to conduct a search. As the night fell, we were able to use a National Guard helicopter to support the search. They were also unable to locate the incident,” Clark said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
An early report by KOIN-TV indicated crews were searching for a lost airtanker that disappeared late Thursday. The BLM-contracted SEAT went missing while fighting a lightning-started fire near Seneca, Oregon. The Central Oregon Daily News said the pilot was en route to a spot fire near the Falls Fire and was killed in the crash.
The BLM confirmed that the wreckage was found and the pilot’s body recovered; the pilot’s identity has not been released.
The Aviation Safety Network reported that an Air Tractor AT-802A owned by Wakefield Aircraft out of North Dakota crashed near Seneca, with one occupant, unknown injuries and unknown aircraft damage.
The plane went missing around 19h00 while working a lightning start near the Falls Fire. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office and Falls Fire personnel immediately began a search and the Oregon National Guard searched overnight without success. Grant County Search and Rescue on Friday joined the search. KGW-TV said the SEAT was flying out of Burns, about 45 miles from Seneca via US-395. The Falls Fire’s about 25 miles south of John Day.
The Falls Fire was at 141 926 acres and 55 percent containment, according to a KTVB-TV report. On Friday afternoon that was updated to 55 percent contained at 140 422 acres.
Strong afternoon winds together with extremely dry fuels increased fire behaviour on the Telephone Fire and several new starts were identified east of the Falls Fire in the Parasol Butte area. Evacuation levels were announced and extended in response to the new starts and the Telephone Fire’s move across FSR 28.
Crews responded along with aerial resources and structure protection crews mobilized and responded to the area. The Telephone Fire has grown 3 000 acres and moved farther southeast overnight. Smoky conditions are expected to continue; an inversion layer sits over the fire but may lift by early afternoon. Temperatures have been in the mid-80s.
This SEAT crash is the third for the 2024 season after the loss of a SEAT in New Mexico and the loss of Fire Boss in Montana on July 10th.
The NTSB will complete an investigation into the cause of the crash.
Sources: Fire Aviation, Central Oregon Daily, Fox 12 Oregon, Moscow-Pullman Daily News
The SEAT aircraft belonging to North Dakota-based Aerial Timber Applicators, was located on Friday morning after an extensive search and the pilot was confirmed lost in the crash.
A Grant County Search and Rescue team located the aircraft Friday morning and confirmed the death, said Lisa Clark, a Bureau of Land Management information officer for the Falls Fire. The plane was located in steep, forested terrain on Friday morning after the search was suspended at nightfall the day before, Clark said.
"The pilot was brought to John Day, Oregon for formal identification and notification of the family. There was a procession that brought the pilot out from the incident to town,” Clark said.
The FAA identified the plane as an Air Tractor 802A. The pilot was identified Sunday as 74-year-old James Bailey Maxwell by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Maxwell was a pilot for more than 54 years and had logged 24 000 hours of flight time, much of it in single-engine air tankers, the smallest and most nimble fixed-winged aircraft used for fighting wildfires. He also worked as a crop duster.
“I respected him my whole life,” said Jim Pope Jr, of Leading Edge Aviation at Clarkston. “I’m younger than him and I grew up knowing him and his ability as a pilot. He was a very good pilot.” Maxwell flew for the US State Department in a coca eradication project as part of the war on drugs. Pilots would drop herbicides on the plants used to make cocaine in an effort to disrupt production of the narcotic and its eventual distribution and use in the United States.
He was shot down during one mission and suffered burns that left him scarred. “It never really got him down,” said Pope. “He never really focused on ‘poor Jim’. He was always very positive.”
His wife, Glenda Maxwell, told the Oregonian newspaper that he loved his work. “He died doing what he wanted to do,” she said in an article published Tuesday.
Clark said Maxwell had dropped a load of retardant on the Parasol Fire in Grant County, north of the Falls Fire and was returning to Burns to reload. "We immediately utilised firefighting resources and the aircraft associated with the fire to conduct a search. As the night fell, we were able to use a National Guard helicopter to support the search. They were also unable to locate the incident,” Clark said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
An early report by KOIN-TV indicated crews were searching for a lost airtanker that disappeared late Thursday. The BLM-contracted SEAT went missing while fighting a lightning-started fire near Seneca, Oregon. The Central Oregon Daily News said the pilot was en route to a spot fire near the Falls Fire and was killed in the crash.
The BLM confirmed that the wreckage was found and the pilot’s body recovered; the pilot’s identity has not been released.
The Aviation Safety Network reported that an Air Tractor AT-802A owned by Wakefield Aircraft out of North Dakota crashed near Seneca, with one occupant, unknown injuries and unknown aircraft damage.
The plane went missing around 19h00 while working a lightning start near the Falls Fire. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office and Falls Fire personnel immediately began a search and the Oregon National Guard searched overnight without success. Grant County Search and Rescue on Friday joined the search. KGW-TV said the SEAT was flying out of Burns, about 45 miles from Seneca via US-395. The Falls Fire’s about 25 miles south of John Day.
The Falls Fire was at 141 926 acres and 55 percent containment, according to a KTVB-TV report. On Friday afternoon that was updated to 55 percent contained at 140 422 acres.
Strong afternoon winds together with extremely dry fuels increased fire behaviour on the Telephone Fire and several new starts were identified east of the Falls Fire in the Parasol Butte area. Evacuation levels were announced and extended in response to the new starts and the Telephone Fire’s move across FSR 28.
Crews responded along with aerial resources and structure protection crews mobilized and responded to the area. The Telephone Fire has grown 3 000 acres and moved farther southeast overnight. Smoky conditions are expected to continue; an inversion layer sits over the fire but may lift by early afternoon. Temperatures have been in the mid-80s.
This SEAT crash is the third for the 2024 season after the loss of a SEAT in New Mexico and the loss of Fire Boss in Montana on July 10th.
The NTSB will complete an investigation into the cause of the crash.
Sources: Fire Aviation, Central Oregon Daily, Fox 12 Oregon, Moscow-Pullman Daily News
