Remains of 2 who died in crash fighting Arizona wildfire return home
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Men killed in plane crash while monitoring wildfire were former fire chief, pilot Chelsea Curtis, Arizona Republic © Bureau of Land Management Matthew Miller, pilot with Falcon Executive Aviation (left), and Jeff Piechura, air tactical group supervisor.
Matthew Miller, 48, and Jeff Piechura, 62, were on board the Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft when it crashed on Saturday, according to a statement from the Bureau of Land Management.
Miller was identified in the statement as a fire pilot employed with Falcon Executive Aviation, Inc, which is contracted by the U.S. Forest Service.
Piechura was an air tactical group supervisor employed by the Coronado National Forest. An air tactical group supervisor coordinates incident airspace, manages incident air traffic, and is the link between ground personnel and incident aircraft, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
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New details give insight into the plane that crashed while responding to a wildfire in northwest Arizona on Saturday, killing two fire officials inside.
The Federal Aviation Administration released a new airworthiness directive for the Beechcraft King Air C90 (and others) on Jan. 11. The directive was prompted by reports of cracks in the lower forward wing fitting of Beechcraft Corporation aircrafts that could lead to crashes.
A resident near the fire who told The Arizona Republic she watched the plane crash said officials at the crash site told her they saw a wing fall off the plane in the air.