Two water bomber pilots died in crash

The two pilots that were flying the water bomber when it crashed south of Lytton, British Columbia on Saturday night were killed in the crash.

The plane was badly damaged in the crash and burst into flames after impact, starting another wildfire.

The Buffalo airplane, owned by Abottsford-based Conair and contracted by the provincial Forests Ministry to attack the forest fires.

Rick Pederson, Conair's senior vice-president, said Sunday that the pilot, 58, was from the Lower Mainland, the co-pilot from Alberta.

"The captain of the aircraft has been with the company for over 26 years — very experienced in this business and very experienced on that aircraft," Pederson said. "The co-pilot, although new to Conair, was a very experienced pilot before he joined the company."

Pederson, whose company hasn't suffered a fatal accident in almost 20 years, said it's too early to tell why the plane crashed.

"We don't have any information in that respect right now," Pedersen said. "The Transportation Safety Board has responsibility for the full investigation."

Other provinces are sending assistance to help B.C. fight the blazes. Alberta and Ontario have sent 250 firefighters and fire specialists. This includes 10 four-person initial attack crews, five 20-person sustained action unit crews, three highly specialized incident command teams, fire behaviour analysts, incident commanders and division supervisors.

Alberta and the Yukon have also sent 14 air tankers and bird dog aircraft. The Provincial Air Tanker Centre is establishing a temporary facility at the Quesnel Airport to accommodate these additional aircraft.

Sources:

Water bomber pilots die in B.C. crash (CP)

Additional Fire Crews Coming from Other Provinces (Opinion 250 News)

Water bomber crew confirmed killed (CBC)