All S-2T air tankers in California have been grounded after one tanker crashed while fighting a wildfire in Yosemite National Park Tuesday, killing the pilot.
Most of the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s 22 tankers haven’t been in use recently, as California’s wildfires have largely been manageable. But the fleet will remain grounded until deemed safe by officials, Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told the Los Angeles Time Wednesday, according to an article posted on the newspaper’s website.
“This crash underscores just how inherently dangerous wildland firefighting is and the job is further compounded this year by extreme fire conditions,” CAL FIRE director Chief Ken Pimlott said in an official statement. “We have secured the crash site and will be cooperating with the NTSB on their investigation.”
The pilot’s name has been withheld, pending family notification.
@CALFIRE_CHIEF Pimlott discusses the latest on the crash of @CAL_FIRE Tanker 81 & the effort to recover the pilot. pic.twitter.com/9zrmXxgZ7V
— CAL FIRE PIO Berlant (@CALFIRE_PIO) October 8, 2014
California is one of a handful of states to maintain a fleet of firefighting planes. The S-2T tankers, which can carry up to 1,200 gallons of retardant, are old Navy aircraft retrofitted in the 1990s.
The tanker that crashed Tuesday was among a handful of aircraft fighting the 130-acre Dog Rock fire, which broke out in the afternoon on El Portal Road between the Yosemite’s boundary and the Arch Rock entrance station.
— Staff and wire reports