FirstAlerts
Plane CrashesVersion 3

Two Pilots Killed in Firefighting Helicopter Crash in Utah's Fishlake National Forest

The Salt Lake City Sun and Utah Independent report both crew members died; the cause has not been determined.

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 9, 2026, 9:47 p.m. ET
pilots were killed when a firefighting helicopter crashed in in Utah, according to the Salt Lake City Sun and the Utah Independent. The situation is developing and details remain incomplete. Both outlets reported the aircraft was a and that the pilots were employed by , which was under contract to the US Forest Service. The Salt Lake City Sun reported the fatalities were crew. According to the reporting, officials initially said they were unable to reach the crash site because of the fire, and crews later entered the area and confirmed the deaths. Both outlets also reported that the crash ignited a new fire that spread to connect with the existing blaze in the forest, which has scorched nearly 174 square miles. The aircraft involved has not been identified. Registry records list one aircraft under ; that is a description of what the operator holds on the registry and not an identification of the aircraft in this crash. Registry records can be out of date. The cause of the crash has not been determined. No date or time for the crash was given in the available reporting, and no investigating authority has been named in it.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Terrain elevation
11,056 ft
Nearest aerodrome
15 miles N of Boulder Airstrip (US-1642)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 310 Aug 2026, 01:47current

    Added second corroborating outlet (Utah Independent) and crew breakdown of the fatalities; corrected operator registry holding from four aircraft to one.

  2. Version 210 Aug 2026, 01:27

    Corrected the operator fleet figure in registry records from one aircraft to four.

  3. Version 110 Aug 2026, 00:53

    First published.

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