1997 06/03 AZ Gates & Stevens -Beech E55

Incident Name:
Date: 6/3/97
Personnel: 2 lives lost
Age:
Agency/Organization: Safford Aviation, under an exclusive use contract to the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Ft Apache Indian Reservation and BIA Facility Mgt, Whiteriver, AZ
Position:

Summary:

Jesse Gates, 31, pilot
Leo Stevens, 55, fire observer

Pilot Jesse Gates and Firefighter Leo Stevens were killed in the crash of a fire reconnaissance airplane on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Eastern Arizona. There were no eyewitnesses. A lookout tower reported black smoke near the Black River. Dispatch lost contact with the patrol plane at about the same time the smoke was reported. The plane had been on a routine fire reconnaissance flight.

Maps

near Coupon Tank; Black River Canyon, which is located in Apache County, Arizona.
Black River pump station near the accident site; 7 mi north of Point of Pines; more info in the report. The SEAT came to rest on a sandbar.

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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned

Concise Information from the NTSB, FAA and research by the WLF Staff:
- 6/3/1997
- 2 killed: Jesse Gates, pilot; Leo Stevens, observer
- Operator: Safford Aviation, under an exclusive use contract to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Type: Beech Baron 95-B55
- Location: Black River Canyon, which is located in Apache County, AZ
- FAA Registration # NN8KB
- NTSB # LAX97GA198
National Transportation Safety Board: Factual Report (111 K pdf)
National Transportation Safety Board: Probable Cause (html)The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot’s failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering, which led to an inadvertent stall/spin.
NTSB: Full Narrative (html)
For more information consult the NTSB online lookup Utility Use NTSB Identification: LAX97GA198
Flight Safety Foundation (flightsafety.org): Flight Safety Digest, Vol 18, No. 4, April 1999, US Aerial Firefighting Accidents Involving Fixed Wing Aircraft 1976-1998 (218 K pdf)
Jesse’s and Leo’s names, death date and brief bio are included in the USFA Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study, published April 2002 (2,888 K pdf)
US Social Security Death Index: Jesse D Gates | Leo A Stevens