Nine firefighters believed dead after helicopter crash in Northern California
The helicopter crashed Tuesday night in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Four people were critically burned.
SAN FRANCISCO -- A helicopter believed to be carrying 13 people crashed and caught fire in the remote reaches of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and nine of those on board are missing and feared dead, authorities said today.
Four on board were critically burned, according to Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, adding that "the other nine are missing and we believe were killed in the wreck."
Authorities have not yet identified all of the passengers.
Helicopter crash map: A map with an article in Thursday's Section A about the crash of a firefighting helicopter in Northern California that was believed to have killed nine people showed the crash at an incorrect location. A corrected map is on Page B5 today.
The Sikorksy helicopter crashed at about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday around 35 miles northwest of Redding in Northern California and immediately caught fire. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are sending investigators to the scene.
At least some of the firefighters are affiliated with Greyback Forestry, a firefighting contractor based in Merlin, Ore. "There was an incident that happened, and some of ours were involved," said Audra Moyer, a company spokeswoman.
The firefighters had been working at the north end of a more than 27-square-mile fire burning in the Shasta-Trinity forest, part of a larger complex of blazes that total 135 square miles. The complex of fires in the forest was about 87% contained.
The pilot and two others were taken to UC Davis Regional Burn Center in Sacramento, where two of them were listed in critical condition and the third was listed in serious condition in the Intensive Care Unit, according to Carole Gan, a hospital spokeswoman.
"All of them have burns," Gan said, declining to provide additional information on their injuries or identities.
A fourth injured person was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Redding and is in serious condition, a hospital spokesperson said.
Another firefighter assigned to battle the same series of wildfires died late last month when he was hit by a falling tree.
The Sikorsky S61 N was owned by Carson Helicopters of Grants Pass, Ore., which describes itself as one of the largest firefighting helicopter contractors with the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior. It was one of a dozen choppers deployed on the West Coast on Tuesday night.
Bob Madden, Carson's director of corporate affairs, said the aircraft is inspected twice a day as part of its agreement with the forest service and is in good shape.
