Courtesy of KSTU (FOX 13) Utah
Courtesy of KSTU (FOX 13) Utah
Capt. Todd Neal Tompkins (Courtesy of Iron County Sheriff's Office)
First Officer Ronnie Edwin Chambless (Courtesy of Iron County Sheriff's Office)The NTSB has released a preliminary report on the air tanker crash in southwestern Utah that claimed the lives of two crewmembers on June 3.
According to the report, the plane - a Lockheed PSV-7, N14447 - was involved in battling the White Rock fire in a mountainous terrain near the Nevada border and on its second retardant drop of the day when the crash occurred.
The tanker, operated as Tanker 11, was following the lead airplane into the drop zone, a shallow valley, when it collided with terrain while making a right turn behind the lead plane.
The victims were identified as Capt. Todd Neal Tompkins and First Officer Ronnie Edwin Chambless, both of Boise, Idaho.
Police believe the plane held approximately 1,600 gallons of fuel on board as well as over 2,000 gallons of fire retardant.
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