Incident Name: Pinto Fire reseeding (BLM)
Date: 2/18/2013, about 1500 hrs
Personnel: Teddy R McBride
Age: 74
Agency/Organization: El Aero Aviation of Elko, NV, under contract with the BLM
Position: aerial firefighter
Summary:
On February 18, 2013, Ted McBride was dusting seed across rugged terrain charred in late June by the more than four-square-mile Pinto Fire. Ted was working in the Pinto Creek Ranch area, about 12 mi SE of Eureka. It appears the Bell 206B helicopter he was piloting clipped a power line before crashing. The NTSB and FAA are investigating.
1st photo from 2009, credit: Ross Andreson Elko Daily Free Press; 2nd photo compliments of BLM
If anyone has other photos to share, please send them in.
Maps
Pinto Creek Ranch area, about 12 mi SE of Eureka
{mosmap lat=’39.48223’|lon=-115.86000’|marker=’0’|text=’Approximate Accident Location’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Concise Information from the NTSB, FAA, AAP and research by NVJims and Mellie:
- 2/18/2013, about 1500 hrs
- 1 killed: Ted McBride
- Operator: El Aero Aviation of Elko, NV
- Type: Bell 206B
- Location: about 50 mi west of Ely and 30 mi east of Eureka, NV
- FAA Registration # N20620
- NTSB # WPR13GA128
- National Transportation Safety Board: Probable Cause (html) Probable Cause (pdf)
- NTSB: Factual Report
- NTSB: Full Narrative
- You may use the NTSB online lookup Utility for any more information. Use NTSB Accident Number WPR13GA128.
Wildlandfire.com Links:
- They said it: 2/19/2013
- Hotlist: Pinto Fire
Media Articles and Reports
- Helicopter pilot ID’d in fatal crash near Ely2/19/2013 | Online Article
ELY, Nev. (AP) — Authorities have identified a pilot killed in the crash of a helicopter during an aerial seeding operation west of the Nevada city of Ely. White Pine County sheriff’s Capt. Scott Henriod (HEN’-royd) said Tuesday that 74-year-old Teddy R. McBride was the only person aboard the Bell 206B aircraft when it crashed about 3 p.m. Monday.
Henriod says investigators think a helicopter rotor blade clipped a power line before the aircraft went down in a remote part of White Pine County near Pinto Creek Ranch. That’s about 50 miles west of Ely. McBride lived in Lamoille, near Elko. The aircraft was registered to El Aero Services in Elko, where company officials didn’t immediately comment. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
- Lamoille pilot killed in crash near Ely2/19/2013 | Online article (Elko Daily Free Press — Ted’s local newspaper)
- Wife: Helicopter pilot killed in crash near Ely did what he loved best2/19/2013 | Article from Las Vegal Review Journal is no longer online)
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- From 1994:Pilot praised for daring rescue of helicopter-crash survivors
4/5/1994 | Online Article
- From 1990:Crash of a commuter plane in northeast Nevada; Ted spotted the wreckage from his helicopter. He returned to Elko to fly medical personnel to the scene and to airlift the most seriously injured to the hospital. All survived.
- From 2009:Flying off into the sunset: Veteran pilot Ted McBride is calling it a career
2/4/2009 | Online Article
- from 2011: Photo of Ted in the Bell 206 helicopter doing aerial seeding following the Izzenhood Fire; Another photo.
- No funeral is planned; Ted didn’t want a funeral. His wife said he’ll be cremated and his ashes scattered in the Ruby Mountains of northeastern NV.
- Ted was remembered on the Nevada Assembly Floor
Contributors to this article: NVJims, Mellie, RJM
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