MARIPOSA COUNTY, CA — Two helicopter pilots were killed Sunday afternoon when their aircraft crashed while making water drops on a wildfire at Yosemite National Park, according to officials. The pilots were the only people aboard the Super Puma helicopter, which was being used with a water bucket to help suppress the flames.
The crash happened southeast of Ostrander Lake during the response to the Dome Fire. Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson for the Federal Complex Incident Management Team, said the aircraft was supporting firefighting operations when it went down. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to investigate what happened.
Precision says two employees were lost in the crash
The pilots worked for Precision, the contract aircraft company involved in the firefighting response. In a social media post, the company said it was devastated by the loss and asked for privacy and compassion for the families and team members affected. Precision said the two men were beloved members of the operation, but their names were not immediately released.
The company’s statement followed confirmation that no one else was on the helicopter when it crashed. Officials have not publicly described the sequence of events that led to the wreck, and no additional details about the aircraft’s condition were released Sunday.
Helitack rappelling crews were working alongside the aircraft
The helicopter was operating with a wildland firefighting crew that uses ropes to descend from aircraft into hard-to-reach terrain. That method, known as helitack rappelling, allows firefighters to get into places where ground access is limited or impossible.
Crews using that technique often work closely with aircraft dropping water or positioning personnel near remote firelines. In this case, the helicopter was part of the larger effort to hold back the Dome Fire, which has drawn a substantial response in rugged country near Yosemite National Park.
Dome Fire burns near Wawona and remains only partially contained
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, about 580 people were assigned to the fire response. The Dome Fire started Sept. 15 near Wawona and had burned about 4.7 square miles, with containment at roughly 15%.
The area around the crash site underscores how close the fire is to some of Yosemite’s best-known landmarks. The lake near where the helicopter went down is about 9 miles south of El Capitan and about 7 miles northeast of Wawona, placing the accident within the broader fire zone crews have been battling for days.
Deadly wildfire work has taken a heavy toll nationwide this year
The crash adds to a grim year for people working around wildfires in the United States. Government reports show at least 14 people have died while helping with wildfires so far this year, the most since 2022, when 25 deaths were recorded.
Recent losses have included two helicopter pilots who died in Utah in August while fighting a fire, along with a helicopter pilot in Colorado who crashed into a reservoir. Officials also reported other wildfire-related deaths and emergencies in Oklahoma, Oregon, Minnesota, and western Colorado in recent months.
Investigators are expected to examine what went wrong in the air
The FAA and the NTSB will look into the crash, but officials have not yet said what may have caused the helicopter to go down. No immediate details were released about weather conditions, mechanical problems, or whether the aircraft was on a bucket drop when the accident occurred.
For now, the focus remains on the families of the two pilots and the crews continuing to work the Dome Fire. The incident has also drawn renewed attention to the risks faced by aviation teams that support wildfire suppression in steep, remote terrain where aircraft and ground crews operate under difficult conditions.
