Pilot dies while trying to fight wildfire in Yosemite National Park

Pilot dies while trying to fight wildfire in Yosemite National Park
(Image credit: Twitter.com/YahooNews)

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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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.