Moose Creek Smokejumper Aircraft Crash Fatalities 1959

On August 4, 1959, a Ford Tri-Motor smokejumper aircraft with five occupants: the pilot, three Missoula Smokejumpers, and the Nez Perce National Forest Supervisor, crashed just beyond the runway at Moose Creek, Idaho. The aircraft had brought supplies to Moose Creek before continuing on to drop the jumpers on a fire, when it crashed into trees at the end of the unpaved runway. Within hours of the crash, Smokejumpers John Rolf and Gary Williams died of their injuries. Forest Supervisor Alva Blackerby, also severely burned, remained in the hospital in Grangeville, Idaho and then in Portland, Oregon until August 23, when he died from his injuries. 

Fixed Wing Incident or Accident, Fatality, Burn Injury, Aviation