On the afternoon of October 7, 2014 a wildfire began at Dog Rock on the El Portal Road between the Yosemite National Park boundary and the Arch Rock Entrance Station. The Dog Rock Fire was first reported around 2:45, and swelled to approximately 130 acres. Fire crews and aircraft were dispatched to the scene and responded to the fire.
The FAA reported on October 8 that a CAL FIRE airtanker, Tanker 81, impacted rugged terrain after a wing tip strike on a tree while performing fire fighting duties.
CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott and Yosemite Deputy Chief Deron Mills announced on the same day that the body of pilot Geoffrey “Craig” Hunt of San Jose – a DynCorp contractor who had been working for the state firefighting agency CAL FIRE for 13 years – had been located, and that the remains were escorted down the mountain by the firefighters who stayed with them at the crash site through the night.
As Hunt’s body was taken out from a Yosemite ambulance on Wednesday morning, park rangers and firefighters saluted his coffin, draped with an American flag.
Residents, park workers and visitors in the area witnessed the crash.
“I heard a large explosion, I looked up on the steep canyon wall and saw aircraft debris was actually raining down the side of the mountain after the impact,” said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Chris Michael, who was stopping traffic along state Route 140 near the west entrance of the park because of the wildfire when he saw the plane crash Tuesday afternoon.
The fire was spreading up the canyon wall, and it appeared the pilot was trying to lay down fire retardant to stop its progress, Michael told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
“It appeared from the direction he was going, he was trying to make a drop down the side of the canyon when he hit the canyon wall.”
“This crash underscores just how inherently dangerous wildland firefighting is and the job is further compounded this year by extreme fire conditions,” said Pimlott. “We have secured the crash site and will be cooperating with the NTSB on their investigation.”
CAL FIRE operates 22 other Grumman S-2T airtankers across California. These aircraft were acquired by CAL FIRE as S-2E/G planes from the Department of Defense. CAL FIRE converted the aircraft to fire-fighting configuration and fitted them with turboprop engines. The completely reconditioned Grummans – now designated “S-2T” – are faster, safer, more maneuverable, and capable of carrying 1,200 gallons of fire retardant (a larger retardant payload than the older S-2A airtankers CAL FIRE had utilized since the 1970’s).
Airtanker 81, manufactured in 2001, was and based out of Hollister Air Attack Base. The S-2T is normally flown by a single pilot and carries no other crew members.
My prayers and thoughts are with this brave pilot who flew into places few peacetime pilots would dare.