Incident Name:
Date: Crash date: August 1, 1974, Death date: August 5, 1974
Personnel: John Fletcher
Age: 57
Agency/Organization: Reeder Flying Service under contract with BLM
Position: aerial firefighter
Summary: In an on-ground collision at the Boise Airport on August 1, 1974, John Fletcher’s B26 fire bomber had its nose wheel clipped by a smaller Beech Bonanza. The B26 collapsed onto the Beechcraft squishing it and killing its pilot, as well as starting a fire. John escaped from the burning B26 cockpit with critical burns. He died on August 5, 1974, less than a week later at the University of Utah’s Burn Center where he’d been taken for treatment.
Maps
Boise, Idaho Airport
{mosmap lat=’43.564705’|lon=’-116.219066’|marker=’0’|text=’Boise Idaho Airport’}
Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- Concise Information from the NTSB, FAA, AAP and research by the WLF Staff:
- 8/1/1974 accident date; 8/5/1974, death date
- 1 killed, John Fletcher (the firefighting pilot of the large B26 firebomber died from burns; a second pilot of a Beech was killed when the large B26 it collided with lost support and crushed it.)
- Operator: Reeder Flying Service
- Type: Douglse A26 (B26)
- Location: Boise, Idaho Airport, the B26 was crashed into by another plane while taxing
- FAA Registration for the B26 = # N91354;
- FAA Registration # For the Beech = # N2529W
- Apparently there is only one NTSB record for both. Pilot of he Beech M24R was killed first at the time of the accident; Fletcher, the B26 pilot, died days later from burns from the airplane fire.
- NTSB: accident record for the Beech and B26: SEA75AS006;
- NTSB: Probable Cause
- To check for yourself, consult the NTSB online lookup Utility Look up for Beech‘s accident # SEA75AS006 and/or search the monthly lists, on August 1, 1974, in Boise ID.
- US Social Security Death Index: John E Fletcher
- Age: 57
- Given Name: John
- Surname: Fletcher
- Birth Date: 02 Mar 1917
- State: California
- Event Date: Aug 1974
- News articles naming John Fletcher as fallen:
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Contributors to this article: Mellie
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