'Dome Fire': 2 killed in Mariposa County, California helicopter crash fighting Yosemite wildfire, FAA says

MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. -- Two helicopter pilots were killed when their aircraft crashed Sunday afternoon while conducting water drops on a wildfire at Yosemite National Park, officials say. The pilots were the only people on board, and were employed by the contract aircraft company Precision. They were working with a wildland firefighting crew that specializes in using ropes to descend from helicopters to reach otherwise inaccessible terrain, known as helitack rappelling. The Super Puma helicopter was using a water bucket to help suppress the fire when it went down southeast of Ostrander Lake, said Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson with the Federal Complex Incident Management Team overseeing the firefighting response.

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