Okanogan National Forest Helicopter Accident Fatality 1985

On August 8, 1985, an Aerospatiale Alouette III was assigned to fires on the Okanogan National Forest, central Washington, based at the North Cascades Smokejumper Base (NCSB) east of Winthrop.  That day, a SAFECOM was filed pertaining to the loss of a longline remote hook from this helicopter; the cause was undetermined. 

The following day, the helicopter departed NCSB with a longline load, external cargo basket, and internal cargo bound for Helispot 1 (H-1). Here some cargo was offloaded. The helicopter then flew to the fireline where cargo was unloaded again, this time from the cargo net. After this, the pilot then departed the fire area to return to NCSB. While descending the mountains, the helicopter experienced both an engine failure and the unweighted longline becoming entangled in the tail rotor. The helicopter crashed into trees and a post-crash fire ensued. The pilot was killed. Unfortunately the name of the pilot is not readily available.