Incident Name:
Date: 7/15/1940
Personnel: Robert Maricich
Age: 26
Agency/Organization: Northwest Airlines Manager/Pilot at Missoula MT, assisting with forestry (now Forest Service) firefighting efforts
Position: pilot, aerial firefighter
Summary: Pilot Robert Maricich was killed aiding forest fire fighters when his plane crashed on August 15, 1940. He and Dell Clabaugh were flying provisions to remote wilderness-isolated forest firefighters on the western side of the Bitterroot Mountains on the Idaho-Montana border. The plane was caught in a down-draft over a rock-rimmed mountain lake and landed in two feet of water. Clabaugh survived, but Maricich did not.
Historical photo and description compliments of the National Smokejumper Association. The 1997 Static Line issue is 13 MB, very large download from the SJ website.
Maps
Location of Travel Air 6000b Crash, July 15th, 1940.
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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Robert Maricich, Pilot is killed aiding forest fire fighters
- US Census, Missoula, MT, 1930: Robert G Maricich
- Travel Air 6000 for type from Wikipedia
Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
Contributors to this article: Mellie
