YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CA — Two helicopter pilots were killed Sunday afternoon when their aircraft crashed while making water drops on a wildfire near Yosemite National Park. Officials said the pilots were the only people aboard the helicopter, which was helping crews battle the Dome Fire.
The crash happened as the Super Puma was using a water bucket to suppress the blaze near a lake. Federal aviation authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, but officials did not immediately release details about what caused the aircraft to go down.
Pilot identified as Greg King after Alaska forestry career
One of the victims was identified as Greg King, according to Emery Johnson, a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection. Johnson said King had worked for the agency before moving to Precision, the contract aircraft company operating the helicopter.
King had previously fought several wildland fires in Alaska, Johnson said. His close relatives also work at the agency and gave permission for his name to be released. The second pilot’s identity has not yet been made public.
Contract aircraft company and Alaska agency react to the deaths
Precision said it was struggling to find words for the loss and asked for privacy and compassion for the families and the company’s team. The Alaska forestry and fire agency described the deaths as a devastating blow to the broader wildland firefighting community.
In a statement, the agency said King was a dedicated aviator and a close friend to many colleagues. It said the two pilots had bravely supported firefighting efforts, and expressed sympathy for their families as news of the fatal crash spread through the community.
Crash site was near Ostrander Lake and south of El Capitan
Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson for the Federal Complex Incident Management Team, said the helicopter went down near a lake southeast of Ostrander Lake. The location is roughly 7 miles northeast of Wawona and about 9 miles south of Yosemite’s El Capitan.
The crash site sits within the rugged landscape where crews are working to slow the spread of the wildfire. Officials have not publicly described the sequence of events that led to the aircraft striking the ground.
Dome Fire had drawn about 580 firefighters to the area
About 580 people were assigned to the Dome Fire, which started Sept. 15 near Wawona, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The blaze had burned about 4.7 square miles and was about 15% contained at the time of the crash.
Crews have been using air and ground resources to contain the fire in the Yosemite area. The helicopter’s water drops were part of that effort, underscoring how closely aviation support is tied to wildfire suppression in steep and remote terrain.
Deadly year for wildfire crews continues across several states
The Yosemite crash came during a year that has already been deadly for people working around wildfires in the United States. Government reports show at least 14 people have died while helping with wildfires this year, the most since 2022, when 25 deaths were recorded.
Recent deaths have also been reported in Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon and Minnesota. Those incidents included helicopter pilots, a firefighter hit by a falling tree, a firefighter who suffered a medical emergency, and a bulldozer operator overrun by flames, highlighting the wide range of dangers tied to wildfire response.
FAA and NTSB will examine what caused the helicopter to go down
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to look into the crash. Officials have not said whether weather, mechanical trouble or some other factor played a role.
For now, the focus remains on the two men who died while supporting the firefighting effort and on the crews still working the Dome Fire near Yosemite. The incident adds another fatal loss to a season already marked by repeated tragedies for wildland firefighters and the aviation teams that support them.