Arizona Helicopter Crash Kills 2

[mtnfireguy]

2 Die in Ariz. Copter Crash Near Wildfire

By ANABELLE GARAY
Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX (AP) -- A helicopter dropping off a crew of elite firefighters crashed Saturday morning, killing two people and seriously injuring two other crew members, officials said.

The identities of the two who died were not immediately known, but one was the pilot, said Mike Todd, a spokesman for Native Air Ambulance. Two crew members were transported to hospitals.

The contract helicopter was taking a crew from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to begin an initial attack on a fire in the Aspen Ridge area, said Margo Whitt, a fire information officer. Four people were on board when the helicopter crashed about 175 miles northeast of Phoenix.

[NJFFSA16]

PHOENIX (AP) - Authorities identified the four crew members
aboard a helicopter that crashed while investigating a fire,
killing one firefighter and the pilot.
Pilot Jess Pearce, 50, of Peoria, and firefighter Randall Bonito
Jr., 32, of Whiteriver, were killed, said Eric Neitzel, a fire
information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
Firefighters Kristy Johnson, 30, of Cibecue, and Floyd Walker,
37, of the Seven Mile community, were injured in the crash, Neitzel
said.
Johnson was listed in fair condition at St. Joseph's Hospital.
Walker was in stable condition at the same facility Sunday.
All three firefighters were members of the White Mountain Apache
Tribe and part of a Helitack crew investigating reports of smoke in
the Aspen Ridge area, Neitzel said. Bonito and Walker worked for
the Bureau of Indian Affairs while Johnson was employed by the
tribe.
Pearce was flying the Bell 206 L3 helicopter, owned by Air West
Helicopter of Phoenix, when the contract aircraft crashed about
10:30 a.m. Saturday. The bureau has contracted with Air West for
several years, said Margo Whitt, a fire information officer.
It went down south of Hawley Lake in a remote, heavily wooded
area with steep and rugged terrain. The site was about 17 miles
east of Whiteriver on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and 175
miles northeast of Phoenix.
A forester alerted authorities to the crash and the small fire
spotted in the area was later extinguished, Neitzel said.
Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board arrived
Saturday and continued investigating the crash Sunday, he said.
At the fire's command center, a crisis management team was on
site to counsel firefighters and other support personnel.
"It's pretty brutal," Neitzel said. "A lot of people have
taken the day off."
A month ago, White Mountain Apache Tribe fire manager Rick Lupe
died after becoming trapped during a prescribed burn.
Last summer, an airtanker fighting a wildfire for the Forest
Service crashed near Walker, Calif. It took three crew members to
their deaths.
The C-130A cargo plane was released from Davis-Monthan Air Force
Base in Tucson. It was given to a firefighting contractor that had
the dangerous mission of dropping retardant on wildfires in rough,
inaccessible terrain.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

PHOENIX (AP) - This weekend's deadly helicopter crash on the
Fort Apache Indian Reservation marked another loss for Arizona's
Apache community.
A helicopter carrying three firefighters who were members of the
White Mountain Apache Tribe fell from the sky Saturday as the team
was investigating reports of smoke in the Aspen Ridge area.
Just last month, White Mountain Apache Tribe fire manager Rick
Lupe died from injuries he suffered while doing a prescribed burn.
"It's a tremendous loss for Fort Apache this soon after losing
Rick," said Wendell Pea****, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management. "It's a dangerous business we're in."
Firefighter Randall Bonito Jr., 32, of Whiteriver was killed
along with the helicopter's pilot Jess Pearce, 50, who lived in the
Phoenix area.
Firefighters Kristy Johnson, 30, of Cibecue and Floyd Walker,
37, of the Seven Mile community were seriously injured in the
crash.
Both were recovering at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. Walker
remains in intensive care with broken bones. Johnson was moved to a
private room, said fire information officer Margo Whitt.
"We're encouraged," she said. "Both are starting their road
to recovery."
Bonito and Walker worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs while
Johnson was employed by the tribe, said Eric Neitzel, a fire
information officer with the U.S. Forest Service.
Gov. Janet Napolitano extended her condolences Monday to the
families of Bonito and Pearce.
"We are greatly saddened by the death of these two individuals
and are concerned about the pair recovering from their injuries,"
Napolitano said.
"In particular, my condolences go out to the White Mountain
Apache Tribe, which is mourning the loss of its second firefighter
in as many months."
Lupe, 43, had been hospitalized for more than a month after he
suffered third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body during a
May 14 prescribed burn operation near Whiteriver.
He was doing fire mop up and putting out hotspots when winds
kicked up and engulfed Lupe in flames. He used his fire shelter but
it got away from him, Pea**** said.
Lupe's death was the first wildfire fatality in Arizona since
1990, when six died fighting the Dude fire, Pea**** said.
The crew in Saturday's crash was part of a team of first
responders sent to start initial attacks on fires in remote and
inaccessible locations.
The helicopter went down south of Hawley Lake in a remote,
heavily wooded area with steep terrain. The site was about 17 miles
east of Whiteriver on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and 175
miles northeast of Phoenix.
Neitzel said firefighters located and extinguish the small fire.
National Transportation Safety Board officials arrived Saturday
and continued investigating the crash. Officials with the agency
did not return calls Monday.
A crisis management team was on site Sunday to counsel crews
fighting another blaze on the reservation, the 24,500-acre
Kinishiba fire.
"It's pretty brutal," he said Sunday. "A lot of people have
taken the day off."
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On the Net:
White Mountain Apache Tribe: http://www.wmat.nsn.us/
National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)