1992 06/19 CA Roger Stark -S2

Incident Name: a fire in Tuolumne-Calaveras Ranger Unit, on Railroad Flat, Calaveras County, CA
Date: 6/19/92
Personnel: Roger Stark
Age: 48
Agency/Organization: Serv-Air Inc. under contract with CDF, now CAL FIRE
Position: pilot

Summary: On June 19 1992 Roger Stark, CDF pilot, died when the S-2 airtanker he was flying hit trees and crashed while fighting a fire in Calaveras County.

The two AT photos are from collection of Tom Janney.

Roger Stark, CDF Airtanker Pilot T-92, the AT Stark flew Sisq 92, old paint pattern Roger Stark in Sacramento

Note from Tom: The S2 making the drop is the actual aircraft that Roger was flying. The Sis-Q image is for reference as to aircraft type. the Sis-Q image of tanker 92 is an older picture from when the tail bands were color coded in regards to the contractor. By the late 80’s, this was foregone due to visability issues and all S2’s got the orange banding. By 1992, the CDF paint was transitioning into the now familiar white with red stripes. On the date of Roger’s crash, S2 N427DF – Tanker 92, was still in the old CDF green with orange stripe.

Maps

Stark was fighting a fire on the Tuolumne-Calaveras Ranger Unit. T-92 went down in the Railroad Flat Area. Pin in the center of the Railroad Flat area, Calaveras County, CA

{mosmap lat=’38.341249’|lon=’-120.513029’|marker=’0’|text=’Center of Railroad Flat Area’}

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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned

- Concise Information from the NTSB, FAA, AAP, and research by the WLF Staff:
  - June 19, 1992, Tanker 92
  - 1 killed: Roger Stark
  - Operator: Serv-Air Inc. under contract with CDF
  - Type: Grumman TS2F
  - After drop struck a tree, severing about 11.5 feet off T-92’s left wing.
  - Location: out of Columbia, CA; crashed in Railroad Flat Area of Calaveras County
  - FAA Registration # N427DE
  - NTSB # LAX92TL#10
- The investigation is not in the public National Transportation Safety Board lookup: NTSB online lookup Utility to check for yourself # LAX92TL#10
- Roger’s name and death date are included in the USFA Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study, published April 2002 (2,888 K pdf)

Implications for aerial attack Eyewitness accounts: AT pilots Wanda Nagel & Frank Garcia

AAP Aviation Heroes under 1992: Roger Stark
Lessons Learned Center database has a record but no documents available. To find the record, enter 1992 and “aircraft accident” in the lookup utility.
USFA Memorial Database: Roger Eugene Stark
California Death Index: Roger Eugene Stark

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Wildlandfire.com Links:

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Media Articles and Reports

Roger Stark, LODD