Wednesday's Tanker Crash Double Tragedy For Pilots' Family | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-06.23.25

Airborne-NextGen-06.24.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.25.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-06.26.25

AirborneUnlimited-06.27.25

Fri, Apr 22, 2005

Wednesday's Tanker Crash Double Tragedy For Pilots' Family

One Pilot's Brother Died In 1995 Tanker Mishap

Wednesday's crash of a firefighting tanker in northern California was a double tragedy for the family pilot Paul Cockrell. You see, Paul's brother died in a 1995 mid-air while fighting a forest fire in the Anza-Borrego State Park, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Gary Cockrell was at the controls of an Aero Union P-3 when his aircraft collided with a Beechcraft spotter plane also working the Anza-Borrego fire. Cockrell, copilot Lisa Netsch and the pilot of the Beech, Michael Smith, were all killed in the mishap.

Witnesses said Smith's spotter plane appeared to impact the upper fuselage of the P-3, shearing away the vertical stabilizer. Even with their aircraft heavily damaged and going down, Cockrell and Netsch were credited with maneuvering to avoid a tract of homes in their way.

Before Wednesday, it was the last aviation accident involving an aircraft flying for Aero Union.

FMI: www.aerounion.com

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23

Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]

ANN FAQ: Submit a News Story!

Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: One Man’s Vietnam

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.03.25)

Aero Linx: Colorado Pilots Association (CPA) Colorado Pilots Association was incorporated as a Colorado Nonprofit Corporation in 1972. It is a statewide organization with over 700 >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.03.25): High Speed Taxiway

High Speed Taxiway A long radius taxiway designed and provided with lighting or marking to define the path of aircraft, traveling at high speed (up to 60 knots), from the runway ce>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC