The pilot of an air tanker that crashed in Yosemite National Park on Tuesday afternoon was killed in the accident, officials said.
The pilot, whose name has not been released, was battling a wildfire when his or her plane hit a canyon wall at around 4:30 p.m. A rescue crew found the wreckage and confirmed the pilot's death, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
The S-2T air tanker can carry more than 1,200 pounds of retardant. A witness told The Associated Press he saw "aircraft debris actually raining down the side of the mountain after the impact." Some of the pieces narrowly missed fire crews on the ground, and several landed on a nearby highway.
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As of Tuesday night, the fire was still burning and had grown to 130 acres.
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