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crashpilots continue fighting fires(AP)There isno time for tributes, no time to grieve.Over the roar of engines, men wearing sky-were stationed, Cross, 55, radioed pilots and fire control coordinators while taking updates on slurry usage. Cross, who served 25 yearsblue overalls in 100 degree heat quickly as a military flight engineer, said the deaths hooked up hoses to airplane underbellies were a personal loss.Tuesdayslurry before sending them on their way.Seven minutes from landing to take off. Dozens of flights each day.There is little time to reflect on the deaths of J.D. Donahue of Mesa, Ariz., and Chuck Key of Grand Junction, Colo., who crashed while fighting a weekend fire in the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico.Another fire in northern New Mexico has scorched 3,200 acres and firefighters on the ground were having trouble fighting the blaze in rugged terrain. The hectic fight in the air had to go on.“We can’t stop working. It tears my heart out, you know,” air tanker base manager RussCross said.At the Albuquerque Tanker Base at Kirt-land Air Force Base, where Key and Donahue“I have very mixed emotions sometimes. I get teared up.” he said. “It’s a very hazardous job.”Tankers fly about 200 to 300 feet above ground to dump slurry, dealing with poor visibility from smoke and erratic winds. “Right now, they’re all load and go,” base manager Richard Montoya said.“I was told about three years ago that this was the worst job you could have, but you get to love it,” he said.Greg Hock, 47, a tanker captain from Cloudcroft, N.M., said he had flown with Key in 1992 and had known Donahue for five years. “They were good people. They were good pilots,” he said.The cause of Saturday night’s crash was still unknown Tuesday. Crews securing the crash site Monday found mostly small pieces of wreckage of the four-engine P-2V tanker designated for fire operations.The plane, owned by Neptune Avionics in Missoula, Mont., had been carrying 2,400 gallons of slurry from Silver City. It apparentlywent down during a second pass over the mountain fire.Key was a corporate pilot out of Grand Junction and Donahue used to fly a C-130 forthe Hemet Valley Flying Service in Hemet, Calif,, Hock said.Bert Lovato, 56, a ground crewman who knew the pilots, recalled Donahue’s wit and intelligence. He said Key was a family man whose goal was to become a captain. Key was survived by his wife, Jeanine, and a daughter.“This is where they sat around with us,” Lovato said, sitting in the shade beside a mister that left puddles on a wooden picnic table. “Most of us really got attached to them. ... We’re really gonna miss those guys.”Hock said he hoped the crash investigation would provide some answers. “It’s pretty hard to take. But 1 guess we gotta keep going,” he said. “We can’t replace people. That’s the tragedy.”Near the air traffic control tower, an American flag flapped at half-staff.
Newspaper Details
Alamogordo Daily News
Alamogordo, New Mexico, US
Wed, Jul 01, 1998
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CA, USA 15 Oct 2019
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