Incident Name: Salt Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest
Date: 9/12/11
Personnel: 2 lives lost
Age:
Agency/Organization: operating Flame Catchers, Idaho Heat Seekers, and Blaze Runners, wildland fire contractors in ID
Position: pilot
Summary:
Jerry Reding, 55 pilot of Nampa, ID
Jamie Sexton, 38 of Caldwell, ID
On September 12, 2011, about 2313 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182H, N2404X, impacted the terrain about three miles southwest of Stanley, Idaho. The plane was returning from dropping supplies and firefighters at the Salt fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest. The private pilot Jerry Reding and his passenger Jamie Sexton, received fatal injuries, and the airplane, which was owned and operated by Jerry, sustained substantial damage. The men are part of a family of wildland fire contractors in Idaho.
The 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 flight, which departed Salmon, Idaho, about 45 minutes prior to the accident, was being operated in night visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. There was no report of an ELT signal being transmitted.
Photo Credit: KTVB.com, Boise
Maps
Incident Location: ID-Salmon Chalis National Forest; Iron Creek Trailhead
{mosmap lat=’44.19869’|lon=’-115.010401’|marker=’0’|text=’Incident Location’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Concise Information from the NTSB, FAA, WFF and research by the WLF Staff:
- 9/12/12
- 2 killed: Jerry Reding, pilot and brother-in-law, Jamie Sexton
- Operator: Jerry and his family of wildland fire contractors in Idaho, operating Flame Catchers, Idaho Heat Seekers, and Blaze Runners
- Type: Cessna 182
- Location: Iron Creek Trailhead outside of Stanley, ID.
- FAA Registration # N2404X
- NTSB # WPR11FA448
- National Transportation Safety Board: Factual Report
- The National Transportation Safety Board determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be: “The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control due to spatial disorientation while executing a turn to reverse his course in dark night and low-visibility conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to initiate the flight into an area of known low visibility.”
- NTSB: History of Flight – Full Narrative (html) or History of flight (pdf version)
- For any updated information, consult the NTSB online lookup Utility Use NTSB Identification: WPR11FA448
- US Social Security Death Index: Jerry Raymond Reding
Wildlandfire.com Links:
Media Articles and Reports
- 2 dead in small plane crash in central Idaho09/14/11 | ID Statesman (no longer online)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Rescue teams have found the wreckage of a missing plane that disappeared from radar Monday evening while making the 175-mile flight from Salmon to Caldwell, and both people on board were killed in the crash. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office says the Cessna 182 was found at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday near a trailhead outside of Stanley in central Idaho. The pilot and passenger, whose names have not been released, were killed on impact.
Cabin owners in the region reportedly called law enforcement officials Monday night to report that they heard what sounded like a stalled aircraft engine. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
- Victims of Stanley Plane Crash IdentifiedSept 13, 2011 | Online Article
BOISE – Authorities have released the names of two Canyon County residents killed in a small plane that crashed near Stanley. The Custer County Sheriff’s Office has identified the victims as 55-year-old Jerry Reding of Nampa, the pilot, and his passenger 38-year-old Jamie Sexton of Caldwell. They died on impact.
The single engine plane plane left Salmon around 10:15 p.m. Monday and was bound for Caldwell, but never showed up. Multiple agencies from across the state spent the day searching just west of Stanley for the missing Cessna 182 with two people aboard. Custer County Sheriff’s deputies and Search and Rescue members located the crash at 4:40 p.m near the Iron Creek Trail Head. The plane was supposed to land around midnight, but when it didn’t arrive, concerned family members called the authorities. According to the Idaho Transportation Department, which oversees the Aeronautics Division for the state, authorities say around 11:30 p.m. a cabin owner near Stanley reported hearing what he described as a stalling aircraft engine.
“The person who called is a pilot and knows what a normal airplane engine sound would be, and he reported the airplane seemed to be in a distress mode, that the engine seemed to be failing,” said ITD spokesman Mel Coulter. The call is also consistent with the last radar contact of the plane. Radar tracking indicated the plane lost altitude and descended rapidly.
Helicopters from the Idaho Air National Guard and the Forest Service searched the heavily forested area, as well as three Civil Air Patrol aircraft. The FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash.
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
Contributors to this article: Vicki Minor of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, Mellie, RJM
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