Another Fire-Fighting Tragedy Takes Three Lives

ANN regrets to impart the news of yet another fire-fighting aircraft crash... this time at the cost of three lives. The P2V Neptune went down in Utah, near Stockton Pass, with heavy fog reported along the route. The aircraft was enroute from Missoula, MT, to Alamogordo, NM, on Saturday morning and discovered at 1300 local time in the Oquirrh mountains.

No distress call or other associated reports were received from the aircraft prior to its impact. Some reports indicate that the aircraft failed to negotiate its way through the pass and was found an eighth of a mile from its crest. The debris path was reported as being nearly 500 feet long.

The Tooele County Sheriffs office has released the names of the crew. Confirmed as deceased are Pilot Tom Risk, 66, from Littleton, CO, along with crew members Mike Flynn, 59, from Alamogordo, NM, and Brian Buss, 32, from Alberton, MT. All three were employed by Neptune Aviation of Missoula, MT.

The aircraft was loaded with fire retardant and was reportedly on the way to southern New Mexico to deal with a partially contained 19,000-acre wildfire that was still endangering homes and structures in its path.

Neptune Aviation's website reports that it "operates two models of the P2V: the P2V-5 and the P2V-7. The Neptune P2V was designed as a maritime patrol and antisubmarine warfare aircraft. This dictated extreme endurance and range, as well as defensive and good short-field capabilities.  Its design featured high-aspect ratio wings, a large fuel load, an internal weapons bay and powerful engines --a combination which enabled the Neptune to set a world distance record of 11,235 miles, by flying nonstop from Perth, Australia to Columbus, Ohio USA. This record stood unbeaten until Dick Rutan and Jeanne Yeager circled the globe in Voyager...

We fight fire with ten Lockheed P2V aircraft rebuilt and fitted with a maximum fire retardant capacity of 2,700 gallons with six door retardant dispensing tanks. Our impeccably maintained aircraft allows our customers to have a useful firefighting tool while we transition into a modern platform for the future." 

Jennifer Myslivy, a New Mexico-based fire mitigation and education specialist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, noted (Saturday) that, "The fire aviation community lost good people and a valuable resource today and they will be missed."

FMI: www.neptuneaviation.com