The plane crashed in Arizona's Black Hills, about 17 miles east of Safford. The cause of the crash is under investigation by the NTSB and Department of the Interior's Office of Aircraft Management, said Towell's employer, Burl Shears of Western Pilot Service in Phoenix, Arizona.
Towell, 63, began piloting air tankers for wildland firefighting efforts in the mid 1980s, Shears said, serving the Department of the Interior through private contractors in several states including Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
Towell also worked for many years at Hemet Ryan Airport in California where he was a flight instructor for Hemet Ryan Aviation and a pilot for Sailplane Enterprises.
Shears described Towell as personable, highly experienced and truly interested in air tanker operations. "His true love in life was flying and all aspects of flying," Shears said. "He was well-liked in the aviation community and well-repected."
Shears said Towell had over 17,000 hours of total flight time including 6,000 hours of low level operations and over 500 hours of air tanker operations. He was also helicopter-rated and glider-rated.
"He was by no means new," Shears said.
Towell is survived by his wife Stacie and granddaughter Keely Logan of Hemet, California.
A memorial service was held Friday, March 26 in Lloyd Venable Park at Hemet Ryan Airport, with an Honor Guard from the Department of the Interior, Shears said. The family requests that any memorial contributions be made to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
