Hildebrand Fire Air Tanker Accident Fatalities 1965

At 1353 on October 4, 1965, a Consolidated PBY-6A aerial firefighting plane crashed during level flight en route to a fire in Southern Oregon. The plane was returning from a drop on the 400-acre Hildebrand Fire about 20 miles northeast of Klamath Falls. In very high winds (up to 60 mph gusts), the left engine failed. The pilots were unable to maintain altitude on the remained engine and crash into trees, destroying the aircraft and fatally injuring both pilots, Fred Childers and Les Liston. A fire lookout was a witness to the accident and speculated that the tanker was hit by a downdraft before the crash.