Fire fighting helicopters mid-air, 6/8/2023

[treadigraph]

Three killed in a Bell 407 after colliding with a CH-64 near Banning, California. CH-64 made a heavy landing.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/343287

[pattern_is_full]

Fighting wildfires is dangerous - fighting wildfires from the air is dangerous - fighting wildfires from the air in a narrow mountain pass, with high winds, low sun (6pm local) and no doubt clouds of smoke and retardant.....well...

A rough and ugly job, and my deepest respects to those with the skill and courage to take it on. But sometime it requires luck as well. And perhaps the luck just ran out.

We can hope the final report will clarify what went wrong and how.

[DaveReidUK]

Three killed in a Bell 407 after colliding with a CH-64 near Banning, California. CH-64 made a heavy landing.

Being picky, the Skycrane is an S-64 (military designation CH-54 Tarhe, thought the accident aircraft wasn't ex-mil).

[Senior Pilot]

Thread running here (https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/654089-firefighting-mid-air-california-august-2023-a.html) with fuller details 👍