FINAL UPDATE:
The North Carolina Air National Guard has just announced:
Four Airmen died and two others were seriously injured when a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System-equipped C-130 Hercules crashed July 1 while fighting a woodland fire in southwestern South Dakota.
Dead are Lt. Col. Paul K. Mikeal, 42, of Mooresville, N.C.; Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, 36, of Belmont, N.C.; Maj. Ryan S. David, 35, of Boone, N.C.; and Senior Master Sgt. Robert S. Cannon, 50, of Charlotte.
The crew part of the 145th Airlift Wing with the North Carolina Air National Guard here.
“Words can’t express how much we feel the loss of these Airmen,” said Brig. Gen. Tony McMillan, the 145th AW commander. “Our prayers are with their families, as well as our injured brothers as they recover.”
Read more of the tragic details here
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(Sad) Update:
The Rapid City Journal reports that South Dakota governor Dennis Daugaard has confirmed the second death in the crash of the C-130 Air Force firefighting plane.
The Rapid City Journal:
In North Carolina, family members confirmed Monday that Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal of Mooresville, N.C., and Master Sgt. Robert Cannon of Charlotte were among those who died, the Charlotte Observer reported. Josh Marlowe of Shelby, N.C., was seriously injured in the crash and was in a South Dakota hospital, his mother-in-law told the Observer.
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Air Force officials offered little other information on Monday, and details about the crash have been slow to emerge. At a news conference in Charlotte on Monday, the Air Force said six had been aboard the plane but did not specify the number of survivors or identify those killed. All six were experienced crewmen who had drilled in fire missions, according to Lt. Col. Robert Carter of the N.C. Air National Guard.
On Sunday, Fall River County authorities had said that three survivors of the crash were treated at Rapid City Regional Hospital. However, the family of Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal said there were informed early Monday of his death, and Mikeal’s father-in-law, Ronald Partridge, said military officers told the family that only two crew members had survived.
Lt. Col Paul Mikeal, a C-130 pilot assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing, runs through the departure checklist before departing for Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., to support firefighting efforts on June 30, 2012. Mikeal died July 1 in a C-130 crash in western South Dakota. Photo Brian Christensen/U.S. Air Force
UPDATE IV:
Compiled from U.S. Northern Command and 153rd Air Expeditionary Group News Releases.
On the MAFFS-equipped C-130 from the North Carolina Air National Guard that crashed while battling a fire in southwestern South Dakota yesterday:
“There were casualties, and our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were injured and those who lost their lives,” U.S. Northern Command officials said in a written statement today. “The family members of these airmen are especially on our minds. We will provide further details on the status of the casualties soon.”
Yesterday’s crash was the first in the 40-year history of the MAFFS program, a joint Defense Department and U.S. Forest Service program that provides additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private air tankers are no longer able to meet the Forest Service’s needs.
The MAFFS-equipped fleet is spending today getting the crews together to “reflect, reset and review,” said Air Force Col. Jerry Champlin, 153rd Air Expeditionary Group commander. “We all need to make sure our crews and planes will be ready to re-engage in the mission safely.”
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said the agency is deeply saddened by this tragic incident. “The agency fully supports the decision by the military to stand down its MAFFS operation to address the needs of personnel and families and ensure the safety of the mission when it resumes,” he said. “The agency will continue to allocate available firefighting assets according to the prioritization of incidents.”
In what officials describe as “a prudent measure,” all military C-130 aircraft equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System have been placed on operational hold after one of the aircraft crashed yesterday.
UPDATE III:
President Barack Obama released a statement today calling the airmen battling wildfires in the Rocky Mountain region “heroes who deserve the appreciation of a grateful nation.”
The statement comes following a crash yesterday of a North Carolina Air National Guard C-130 as its crew was battling a wildfire in South Dakota.
Here is the president’s statement:
Yesterday, a military C-130 from the North Carolina Air National Guard crashed while supporting firefighting efforts in South Dakota. The full details are still under investigation, but the crew of this flight ? along with their families and loved ones ? are in our thoughts and prayers.
The men and women battling these terrible fires across the West put their lives on the line every day for their fellow Americans. The airmen who attack these fires from above repeatedly confront dangerous conditions in an effort to give firefighters on the ground a chance to contain these wildfires ? to save homes, businesses, schools, and entire communities. They are heroes who deserve the appreciation of a grateful nation.
I know Americans across the country share my concern for the well-being of the surviving members of the crew and my deep condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. And I know that Americans join me in expressing my deepest gratitude for the selfless determination they and thousands of men and women involved in this fight in states across the country demonstrate every day.
DOD Sources
UPDATE II:
There are very preliminary, incomplete and at times conflicting reports on the C-130 that crashed fighting the western fires.
This is a summary of those reports.
The aircraft belonged to the North Carolina Air National Guard, based out of Charlotte, N.C.
Lt. Col. Rose Dunlap of the 145th Airlift Wing in Charlotte confirmed six crewmembers were aboard the C-130, but said she could not yet provide any information about their condition.
At an earlier briefing in Colorado, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Jerri Marr said, “the agency’s thoughts went out to the families of those lost in the crash of the C-130.”
The cause of the crash is not known and the incident is under investigation but the seven other firefighting C-130s are being grounded because of the crash.
The Associated Press reports, “While there was no official word Monday on deaths or injuries, the family of Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal confirmed they were told that he had died.”
South Dakota officials told the Rapid City Journal newspaper that three crew members from the crash were taken to a hospital. Military officials would not comment on that.
A U.S. Forest Service official in Colorado offered sympathy to the crew members’ families. “We grieve your loss this morning along with you,” said Jerri Marr, supervisor of the Pike and San Isabel National Forests.
The National Guard has been expected to hold a news conference in Charlotte on Monday afternoon.
Military officials have identified a plane that crashed while battling a Colorado forest fire as a C-130 tanker belonging to the NC National Guard.
The NC National Guard identified the plane as a C-130 Hercules belonging to the 145th Airlift Wing based out of Charlotte.
The 145th sent two C-130s out to Colorado over the weekend to assist in battling the wildfires.
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Original Post:
They have risked and given their lives in combat, most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, in service of their country.
They have been risking their lives in a different kind of combat, here at home, serving their country, their fellow Americans.
They are our military. They are the crewmembers of eight specially modified C-130 aircraft — Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems, or MAFFS — who have been helping to combat the wildfires in the western U.S.
As reported yesterday, all eight Department of Defense C-130 aircraft equipped with U.S. Forest Service MAFFS are assisting in multi-agency efforts to control wildfires in Colorado and other western states. The aircraft are currently based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
Sadly, one of those C-130 aircraft crashed Sunday night in South Dakota. The aircraft was combating the White Draw Fire burning near Edgemont, South Dakota, and went down at about 6 p.m. MDT according to the Stars and Stripes.
According to a military spokesman, the tanker was on its second run of the day fighting the White Draw fire.
The Fall River County Sheriff’s Office told the Rapid City Journal that a helicopter was able to land near the plane Sunday night and take three people to Custer to be transported by ambulance to a Rapid City hospital, according to the Air Force Times.
There are no additional details on the status of the aircrew and the cause is “under investigation.”
We keep the crewmembers in our prayers and will keep you posted.
