[Weyland-Yutani]

Both pilots, 44 and 56 years old, lost their lives when their water bomber (a Canadair CL-415) broke in half as they were doing water bombings in Calvi, Corse.

AJACCIO, Corsica, Aug 1 (AFP) - A Canadair water-dropping aircraft crashed on Monday as it was tackling a forest fire on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, killing the pilot and co-pilot on board, French officials said.
The plane came down in an uninhabited area close to the northern town of Calvi on the French island, they said.
It was one of three Canadair planes that had been deployed to control a fire raging since Sunday.
The top French government official for Corsica, Pierre-Rene Lemas, told AFP that the 55-year-old pilot and the 46--year-old co-pilot were violently ejected from the aircraft on impact and died immediately.
An investigation was underway, he said.
"Some witnesses, mainly firefighters battling the flames, said it hit a mountain. Others said that it broke in two before that. But it all happened in smoke because it seems the Canadair had just dumped water on the fire," he said.
Lemas added that it appeared the fire had been deliberately set and that "there are one or two people today... who have these deaths on their conscience."
French President Jacques Chirac paid homage to the two men killed and said that if it turned out arson was behind the fire he wanted "everything to be done to arrest and punish those responsible."
French emergency service officials briefly grounded all their Canadairs following the crash to conduct safety inspections.

http://www.ttc.org/200508011434.j71ey9929359.htm (in English)

http://fr.news.yahoo.com/050801/202/4ivr8.html (in French)



Their airplane was called “Pelican 36”.


http://www.airliners.net/open.file/267196/L/

The Canadair seems to have lost its tail just after spreading the water.

Large photo of the accident: http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/9...68compr4ey.jpg

Water bombing forest fires is surely one of the most dangerous professions once can get. Low flying, often trough mountains, through smoke and extreme heat and turbulence with extreamly heavy cargo. The Candadair planes are very sturdy and tough but I guess they could be tougher still.

If the loss of two brave pilots isn't sad enough then the reson for this fires is. Apparently involving criminal elements in France that deliberately put fire on forrests in order to push those lands to become constructible.

May they rest in peace and God watch over them.

cheers

W-Y

[Troll]

Wow, amazing photograph of the accident happening!

[BoomStick]

We lost a a p-3 orion fire fighting plane a few years back.
It's wing spar broke on the drop of the run.

THe news played the crash over and over.

Being a pilot, I find those pics distasteful.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by BoomStick

Being a pilot, I find those pics distasteful.

There are many good reasons for people to see these pictures. (or are you talking about "those"?)

cheers

W-Y

[Fred_Cokebottle]

These aircraft take a lot of pounding from turbulence..Structural fatigue?

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by Fred_Cokebottle

These aircraft take a lot of pounding from turbulence..Structural fatigue?

Yes very likely. There is very heavy turbulence for sure as well as tight maneuvers that have to be made with very heavy cargo. They are also flying through immense heat and then cold. The metal of the plane twists and turns.

cheers

W-Y

[wdlove]

Very sad, My prayers are with the men's family and friends. May they rest in peace. Quite amazing pictures.

[tooki]

Boy, the French seem to be having a bad week with respect to air traffic!

tooki