Tag: air tanker

The U.S. Forest Service has released a preliminary briefing on Saturday’s crash of Air Tanker 42 in Utah:

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Subject: Preliminary (24-Hour) Briefing

To: Ron Hanks

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Location: Toole Utah

Date of occurrence: April 25, 2009

Time of occurrence: 10:00 AM

Team leader: NTSB (Kurt Anderson)

Mission: Ferry

Activity: Firefighting airtanker under operational control of New Mexico

Number injured: 0

Number of fatalities: 3

Property damage (such as to vessels, equipment, and structures): Total loss of airframe

Narrative: At approximately 10:00 am Mountain Standard Time, a P2V airtanker with a crew of 3, registered to Neptune aviation impacted terrain near Toole Utah in the Stockton Pass area. All three occupants onboard were killed. The aircraft was traveling from Missoula Montana to respond to the Four Mile fire in Chaves County. This fire and the associated flight was under the operational control of the State of New Mexico The occupants were identified as Tom Risk, Pilot, of Littleton CA, Mike Flynn, co-pilot, of Alamogordo, NM and Brian Buss ,Crew chief of Alberton Montana.

Aircraft debris was scattered over an area approximately 500 feet long and weather conditions at the time of the accident were described as foggy with low ceilings, wind and blowing snow.

The NTSB has assigned Kurt Anderson as Investigator in Charge and the FAA is also participating in the investigation. The investigation team has been on site since Sunday Morning along with representatives from Neptune aviation.

The Forest Service has contacted the NTSB Investigator in Charge to offer any support or assistance as needed. The AFF tracking system has been saved for investigation purposes and the aircraft has the APAREO system on board which may help reconstruct some information from the history of the flight.

Gary Morgan

Air Safety Investigator

USDA Forest Service

A P2V Neptune air tanker crashed in the Oquirrh mountains today in Utah, killing the three-person crew. The crash occurred between Tooele and Stockton (map).

Tthe three men who died in the crash have been identified as:

• Tom Risk, 66, from Littleton, Colo., pilot
• Mike Flynn, 59, from Alamogordo, N.M., crew member
• Brian Buss, 32, from Alberton, Mont., crew member

The aircraft, Tanker 42, was owned by Neptune Aviation of Missoula, Montana and was enroute from Missoula to Alamorgordo, New Mexico.

The county sheriff began searching for a crash site after a nearby resident reported hearing a large aircraft overhead then what sounded like “two semis crashing head on” at about 10 a.m. At about 11:15 a.m., the sheriff’s office learned through sources in Idaho that an airplane was reported missing.  Due to low clouds, searchers were initially unable to locate the crash site until 1 p.m. when the clouds lifted.

Deputies and search and rescue crews retrieved the victims from the crash site and were working late Saturday afternoon to bring the bodies down from the mountainside. That task was made difficult by low clouds, rain and steep terrain.

Our condolences go out to the families and co-workers of the crew.

Sadly, the P2V-7 Neptune that crashed at Reno on September 1, 2008 was also owned by Neptune Aviation.

(Update, Sept. 6, 2018: here is a link to the NTSB final report. And, below is an excerpt from the summary.)