Pilot of tanker plane that crashed near Oregon's Falls Fire ID'd
The pilot of a single-engine air tanker that crashed Thursday near eastern Oregon's 142,000-acre Falls Fire was identified Sunday as James Bailey Maxwell, 74.
The pilot of a single-engine air tanker that crashed Thursday near eastern Oregon's 142,000-acre Falls Fire was identified Sunday as James Bailey Maxwell, 74.
On Sunday, the U.S. Forest Service described Maxwell in a statement as “an experienced pilot who had spent 54 years of his life flying and who had logged approximately 24,000 hours of flight time.”
“The wildland firefighting community is mourning the loss of one of their own,” the service said.
An official Facebook page for the Falls Fire said the plane was BLM-contracted, referring to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and that it had been assigned to help with the firefighting response to the Falls Fire.
The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the cause of the crash.
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