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Posted by Terence Burns on Fri Jul 19, 2002 12:28:39 AM
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?
The aircraft was a PB4Y Privateer, Tanker 123, operated by Hawkins & Powers of Greybull, Wyoming. It crashed at approximately 6:50 pm local time near Estes Park, Colorado while fighting a major fire. Early reports from eyewitnesses to the accident suggest that it broke up in flight at low altitude at the conclusion of a retardant drop. Tragically, both crewmembers are reported to have been killed.
There's a magnificent photo of tanker #123 at
http://www.hawkinsandpowers.com/images/Fixed/yellowbird.jpg
On a personal note, #123 was a local favorite with Denver area aviation enthusiasts, having been a regular resident at the U.S. Forest Service tanker base at Jefferson County airport for many summers. It was also very popular with workers at the airport and the students at Colorado Aero-Tech A&P school. As I write this, I'm looking at a picture of myself and my younger sister standing in front of 123, taken around 1977 or so. I have been a regular visitor at the tanker base for more than 25 years, and can remember seeing tanker #123 on visits with my father when I was just a boy. As much as I have always had a soft spot for old air tankers, I have had an even greater admiration for the men and women who fly them into difficult and dangerous situations, and I am deeply saddened by this latest loss.
This is the second tragedy to befall Hawkins & Powers in less than a month - the same firm lost a C-130 on a fire in California just a few weeks ago. My deepest condolences go out to the families of the crew, and to their friends and colleagues at Hawkins & Powers Aviation