An aircraft supporting the Gold Mountain Fire response was involved in an accident at Silver Jack Reservoir on Sunday. The reservoir is in southwestern Gunnison County, Colorado. The Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office said the accident was reported at about 5:17 p.m. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries.
Pilot Recovered From Aircraft
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team recovered the pilot from the aircraft later Sunday. The pilot was transferred to the Gunnison County Coroner’s Office. The sheriff’s office said the pilot’s identity would be withheld until notification of next of kin.
The initial sheriff’s office statement did not identify the aircraft type, registration or operator. Gunnison County Sheriff Adam Murdie confirmed that the aircraft was participating in operations associated with the Gold Mountain Fire, Denver7 reported. Information concerning the flight’s departure point, assigned mission and sequence of events have not been released.
Aviation Safety Network independently identified the aircraft as a Kaman K-1200 K-MAX, registration N40HX, operated by Helicopter Express.
Gold Mountain Fire Operations
The Gold Mountain Fire began June 27 and has burned approximately 57 square miles by Monday, according to the Associated Press. Incident officials reported that the fire was 13% contained Monday morning.
The Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division and personnel from several other agencies responded to the accident site. The cause of the accident had not been determined, and authorities had not released information concerning wreckage recovery or the planned investigative process.
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