MINDEN, Nev. (AP) -- Brian Bruns, a Minden pilot who died in a California air tanker crash, is remembered by aviators as a great pilot and an even better human being.
Bruns, 45, was one of three members of the Aero Union P-3B crew who flew out of a Chico airport on Wednesday on a practice flight. Their remains were found Thursday in the Lassen National Forest.
''We would meet occasionally in the fire environment or he would drop by just to talk,'' said Leonard Parker, owner of Minden Air Corp., based at the Minden-Tahoe Airport.
''He was a serious, competent individual who focused on his job and performed it to the best of his ability,'' Parker told The Record-Courier of Gardnerville.
Bruns, Paul Cockrell, 52, of Fresno; and Thomas Lynch, 41, of Redding, Calif., were aboard a P-3 owned by Aero Union, a Chico-based company that provides fighting equipment.
Bruns is the second pilot from Minden to die in an air tanker crash. Pilot Steve Wass died in June 2002 with two crew members in a tanker crash near Walker, Calif.
Parker said Wednesday's crash doesn't deter pilots. ''We're all professionals. We all believe in this business and like to think of ourselves as firefighters here to do good for people. That's what makes the difference,'' he said.
Mike Kidwell, manager of the Stead Air Attack Base, said Bruns always had a good thing to say about everybody.
''I didn't know of a single person who had a derogatory comment to make about him. I was honored to be his friend,'' he told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Bruns had a U.S. Navy career flying P-3 aircraft and in the winter flew them as part of submarine patrols through the naval reserve. It apparently was that background with the P-3 aircraft that led him to Aero Union, which uses the P-3 in its government contracts to battle wildfires.
Asked why Bruns would take the air tanker firefighting jobs instead of just flying with the naval reserve, Kidwell said firefighting can be addictive.
''When the bell goes off, theres the adrenaline and the excitement of it,'' Kidwell said. ''When you can get out there and kick that fires butt and everybody come homes safe. Its a very satisfying feeling. When it goes bad, it goes radically bad. People die.''
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