Two pilots from the contract firm Precision died Sunday when their Super Puma helicopter crashed during water drops for the Dome Fire near Yosemite National Park. One of the deceased has been identified as Greg King, a veteran aviator previously employed by Alaska's forestry agency.
The Super Puma's descent near Ostrander Lake
The Super Puma helicopter, operated by the contract company Precision,crashed southeast of Ostrander Lake on September 21, 2026. According to Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson with the Federal Complex Incident Management Team, the aircraft was utilizing a water bucket to suppress the Dome Fire when it went down. The crash site is located approximately 7 miles northeast of Wawona and 9 miles south of the iconic El Capitan.
Greg King and the Precision contract crew
One of the pilots has been identified as Greg King, a former aviator for the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection. As reported by agency spokesperson Emery Johnson, King had a distinguished history of fighting wildland fires in Alaska before joining Precision. The Alaska forestry and fire agency described his passing as a "devastating loss" for the firefighting community, while Precision stated on social media that the company was "struggling to find the words" to describe the loss.
The 4.7-square-mile Dome Fire struggle
The crash occurred while crews were battling the Dome Fire, which ignited on September 15 near Wawona, California. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the blaze has burned roughly 4.7 square miles and is currently 15 per cent contained. approximately 580 personnel have been deployed to manage the incident, reflecting the scale of the effort required to contain the fire in the rugged Yosemite terrain.
A deadly year with 14 firefighter fatalities
This tragedy is part of a lethal trend in U.S. wildland firefighting, with at least 14 people killed in the line of duty this year. This figure represents the highest annual death toll since 2022, when 25 deaths were recorded, according to government reports. The rising number of fatalities suggests an increasingly hazardous environment for first responders.
The risk to aerial and ground crews has been evident throughout the 2026 season. In August, two helicopter pilots died fighting a fire in Utah, while another crashed into a reservoir in Colorado. Other fatalities this month include a firefighter in Oregon killed by a falling tree in Mt.. Hood National Forest and another in Oklahoma who suffered a medical emergency. Additionally, the report notes that a bulldozer operator was overrun by flames in Oregon, and a wildfire officer in Oklahoma was killed after becoming trapped while evacuating a burning building.
The missing identity of the second pilot and the NTSB probe
While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched investigations, several critical details remain missing. The identity of the second pilot has not yet been released to the public, and the specific mechanical or environmental cause of the Super Puma's crash remains unknown. Until the NTSB completes its probe, it is unclear if the incident was caused by equipment failure or the extreme conditions of the Dome Fire.
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