UPDATED 9/24/2020
The Aerial Firefighting community suffered another loss last night as news began to arrive that another pilot had been lost during aerial firefighting operations just after 7 pm in Idaho.
The aircraft, believed to be a Single Engine Air Tanker was dropping retardant at the time of the incident according to a statement from the Bureau of Land Management who posted confirmation on social media last night.
The loss of another aircraft and pilot comes after a horror season for the aerial firefighting industry, with losses of an entire crew in Australia early in the season after the crash of Coulson Tanker 137, multiple helicopter crashes, and the loss of two SEAT aircraft in a mid air collision last month.
The Schill Fire was brought under control by 10 pm that evening and burned approximately 25 acres east of Emmett, Idaho.
The pilot has been identified as Ricky Fulton of Chickasha, Oklahoma. The aircraft involved was an Air Tractor AT-802 designated as Tanker 857 that was registered to Colorado based Aero SEAT.
