Ukiah Air Tanker Crash Fatality 1974

At 1355 on August 31, 1974, a Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat air tanker registered N6177C and operating as Tanker 31 crashed while on a retardant run on a fire near Ukiah, California. According to the brief NTSB investigation report the pilot failed to see and avoid obstructions in his flight path, striking trees and colliding with terrain, triggering a "severe" post-crash fire. The pilot of Tanker 31, William Benedict, was killed in the accident. Benedict had been a flying ace in World War II and a famous aviator whose exploits included being the first American to land an airplane at the North Pole.