Two helicopter pilots were killed Sunday afternoon when their aircraft crashed while conducting water drops on the Dome Fire inside Yosemite National Park in Mariposa County, California. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
The aircraft went down shortly before 3 p.m. southeast of Ostrander Lake while assisting firefighting efforts on the Dome Fire, according to federal officials. The two pilots on board were the sole occupants of the helicopter and were employed by the contract aircraft company Precision. They were working alongside a wildland firefighting crew that specializes in helitack rappelling, a technique where personnel use ropes to descend from helicopters into otherwise inaccessible terrain.
The Dome Fire Response and Terrain Challenges
The Dome Fire started Sept. 15 near Wawona, California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, with source reports also noting it began Tuesday morning near Wawona Dome inside Yosemite National Park. By Thursday, the blaze had burned more than 3,000 acres, and figures released by the National Interagency Fire Center put the affected area at roughly 4.7 square miles with 15% containment. Rough terrain, heavy smoke, and hazardous conditions have continued to challenge the nearly 500 personnel—with roughly 580 people fighting the fire overall according to the National Interagency Fire Center—responding to the incident.
Several helicopters have been assigned to the fire to transport firefighters into remote areas and execute water-dropping operations. Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson with the Federal Complex Incident Management Team overseeing the firefighting response, noted that the Super Puma helicopter involved in the crash was using a water bucket to help suppress the fire when it went down in an area roughly 9 miles south of Yosemite’s iconic El Capitan and 7 miles northeast of Wawona.
It is a full suppression fire. So we are going to react with all of our firefighters and personnel and equipment and aircraft and throwing everything at it that we can right now.
Devin Young, public information officer with CIMT Team 3
Contractor Reaction and Ongoing Safety Concerns
Following the incident, firefighting contractor FlyPrecision announced the loss of its team members in an Instagram and social media statement.
It is with unimaginable sadness and broken hearts that we share the loss of two beloved members of our team. We are devastated by this loss and are struggling to find the words. We ask for privacy and compassion for their families and our team as we grieve this tremendous loss.
Precision, via social media statement
Neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor the contractor immediately released the names of the pilots. Government reports indicate that at least 14 people have died while helping with wildfires in the U.S. this year, the most since 2022 when 25 deaths were recorded. Recent months have seen fatalities and medical emergencies among wildland firefighting personnel across multiple states: in August, two helicopter pilots died while helping fight a fire in Utah, and a helicopter pilot in Colorado crashed into a reservoir. Earlier this month, a firefighter suffered a medical emergency while fighting a wildfire in Oklahoma, and another firefighter in Oregon was hit by a tree that broke while he was cutting it in Mt. Hood National Forest. Also in August, a wildfire officer was killed after getting trapped while evacuating a burning building in a wildland fire in Oklahoma, a firefighter died following a medical emergency during a wildfire in Minnesota, a bulldozer operator got overrun by flames in Oregon, and in June, four firefighters got trapped in a fire in western Colorado.
Investigation and Park Access
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are handling the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash, with the National Transportation Safety Board leading the investigation. CAL FIRE said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Meanwhile, Yosemite National Park remains open, though several trails have been temporarily closed because of the fire.
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