A tanker plane that disappeared in eastern Oregon while fighting one of the many wildfires spreading across several Western states has been found, and the pilot on board is dead, authorities said Friday.
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 found in steep, forested terrain on Friday morning after the search was suspended the night 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 plane, contracted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, went missing Thursday. The Falls Fire, near the town of Seneca on the edge of the Malheur National Forest, has grown to 219 square miles and is 55% contained, according to the government website InciWeb.
Thomas Kyle-Milward, spokesperson for Northwest Incident Management Team 8, said authorities received a report of a missing aircraft around 6:50 p.m. Thursday. The pilot was the only person on board.
Clark said the pilot 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 utilized firefighting resources and the aircraft associated with the fire to conduct a search. As 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.
“Unfortunately, it’s all too often that we’re hearing stories of firefighter fatalities, whether it’s an aircraft crash, a tree strike, a vehicle rollover, or something more closely related to the fire suppression itself. When these crews are working 16-hour days, 14-day shifts, things like this can be a major emotional drain on them,” Clark said.
Despite the tragic incident, everyone working on the dozens of fires burning throughout Oregon right now continues to push forward.
“Much like the military coming home, that’s when most of the stress, anxiety, and trauma come forward. So we make sure that not only do we tie in with our firefighters now to find out if they have any needs, but we will continue through the season and through the winter to make sure that they’re feeling okay and that they have the mental health services they need,” Clark said.