Firefighter killed by 747 retardant drop in Calif wildfire

[MikeD]

The death of a Utah wildland firefighter during the Mendocino complex fire was determined to have been from a slurry retardant drop by a 747 that was too low to disperse properly and hit the ground full force, on top of firefighters working underneath. The impact dropped large trees, one of which fell on the firefighter and killed him. A tragic accident. The lead plane FAC that was leading the 747 through the drop run didn't notice mildly upsloping in the hilly terrain at the drop site, which would have placed the normal drop altitude for the 747 from a few hundred feet AGL, to only about 100' AGL, too low for the heavy slurry to disperse to a mist, and instead hit the ground in it's heavy undispersed form. 3 other firefighters were injured also.

Story here:

Firefighter's Mendocino Complex death caused by retardant drop from low-flying 747

 

[ChasenSFO]

That's damn terrible. I can't imagine the FAC or 747 crew are sleeping well with that news, though in that confusing environment, I'd imagine these mistakes aren't all that rare. In my book, these fire fighters are heroes on the same level as anyone who has sacrificed their life in the military. It is a tough and dangerous job, and luckily there are people with much bigger balls than I to confront these wildfires and fight to contain them. RIP.

 

[bLizZuE]

Sad.

 

[MikeD]

It's a dangerous business all around, whether ground firefighter or aerial firefighter. Everyone from ground firefighters, to engine, bulldozer, and helitack firefighters have all perished due to many different causes.

Even for these new Very Large Air Tankers, it is dangerous work. In 2007, during the first year the DC-10 VLATs were operating, one of them descended too low on a drop run and slammed into large pine trees in rolling terrain near Tehachapi, California. The crew managed to climb away from the trees and recover back to the base, but not without heavy wing and engine damage.

Like combat, it's bad enough to lose one of your own. It's worse to lose one of your own to, what can be arguably compared to, friendly fire.

 

[fholbert]

It's a dangerous business all around, whether ground firefighter or aerial firefighter. Everyone from ground firefighters, to engine, bulldozer, and helitack firefighters have all perished due to many different causes.

Even for these new Very Large Air Tankers, it is dangerous work. In 2007, during the first year the DC-10 VLATs were operating, one of them descended too low on a drop run and slammed into large pine trees in rolling terrain near Tehachapi, California. The crew managed to climb away from the trees and recover back to the base, but not without heavy wing and engine damage.

Like combat, it's bad enough to lose one of your own. It's worse to lose one of your own to, what can be arguably compared to, friendly fire.

Bison mountain. Been there, took out 13 trees if I remember correctly. I don’t think he made it back to base however.