Flathead National Forest Recon Aircraft Accident Fatalities 1955

On September 11, 1955 at around 1410, pilot Eugene A. Cole, Flathead National Forest employee Gene Tuininga, and Fred Wagner were killed when their Stinson Sedan single engine aircraft crashed in Fatty Creek, in the Mission Mountains, Montana. The flight was ordered by the Flathead National Forest as a forest reconnaissance flight. The ranger at the nearby Condon office of the Forest Service spotted smoke in the mountains and made his way to the location with a forest guard to fight the fire, which was in the area of other, small, staffed forest fires. A group made up of the county coroner, Forest Service officials and an aviation expert rode into the crash site on horseback to remove the bodies the following day.

Cole was the manager of Corsair Flight Service of Kalispell, Tuininga was an aerial observer and former Missoula smokejumper, and Wagner was a friend of Cole's invited along for the ride. 

Fixed Wing Incident or Accident, Fatality, Aviation