Idaho Air Tanker Crash Fatality 1968

At 1430 on August 9, 1968, a Grumman TBF Avenger air tanker registered N5635N and operating as Tanker D3 crashed during fire suppression operations, killing the sole pilot. The location of the accident is identified as "Graham" but may refer to the Graham Peak area on the Boise National Forest northeast of Idaho City. Four Boise smokejumpers had parachuted into the half-acre fire a short time earlier, and witnessed the tanker fly over them just barely over the tree tops shortly before crashing. The crash ignited an additional half-acre fire. Very little additional information about this accident is readily available, including the pilot's name.