Union Creek Fire Air Tanker Accident Fatalities 1967

At 1550 on June 27, 1967, a North American B-25 air tanker registered N9937Z crashed while performing air tanker operations on a fire near Rampart, Alaska, possibly called the Union Creek Fire. The brief NTSB report states that the aircraft collided with trees due to misjudged altitude and terrain clearance. Media reports indicated the accident occurred during a retardant run on the eastern edge of the fire. The aircraft was under BLM contract at the time of the crash, and was the first such aviation crash in Alaska BLM history. Both pilots, Don Block and Paul Hansen, were killed.