WIX Archives
From Airtanker.com
Posted by Tim Savage on Thu Jul 18, 2002 10:25:47 PM
In reply top PB4Y Down posted by Tim Savage on Thu Jul 18, 2002 10:22:02 PM
: Just heard that a Privateer firebomber went down this afte
: rnoon...anyone have details?
PINEWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. -- One of the three air tankers that was battling the Big Elk Fire has crashed.
It went down about 6:45 p.m. near the Lyon Gulch trailhead, close to Highway 36, north of Lyons and north of the fire, 7NEWS reported.
According to eyewitnesses at the scene, both of the wings on the plane folded up and broke off and then the fuselage broke in half and crashed into the ground.
Other eyewitnesses report that the plane appeared to have been on fire before it went down.
The crash created a plume of smoke that could be seen over the ridge line.
According to a Forest Service spokesman, the heavy air tanker was on the way to the fire, with a full load, or 2,000 pounds, of slurry on board.
Officials would not say how many people were on the plane. It does not appear as if there are any survivors.
Highway 36 is closed between Lyons and Estes Park.
The two other airtankers battling the blaze have been grounded.
The air tanker was identified as #123, a four-engine PB4Y, which is a World War II era plane. That type of plane was retired in the 60s and now only a small number are used to fight fires.
Last month, a C-130A air tanker battling a fire just in Walker, Calif., 80 miles south of Reno, Nev. crashed after the wings of that tanker snapped off in the air, sending the fuselage to the ground in a fireball.
Three men were killed.
Both planes are owned by the same company, Hawkins & Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyo