In Memoriam: Tanker 09

As I was going through the data that I had on the Lockheed P2V, I learned five days ago that a P2V air tanker owned and operated by Neptune Aviation and under contract by the U.S. Forest Service crashed at approximately 6:10 PM PDT on September 1, 2008 shortly after takeoff from Stead airport near Reno NV. There were three crew members on board, all died in the crash. Air tankers certified by the Interagency Airtanker Board for fire fighting and available for nationwide contract are given tanker numbers. The aircraft involved in this crash is Tanker 09 or T-09. T-09 had made a few retardant drops on a 200-acre fire (the Burnside Fire) in the Humboldt-Tolyabe National Forest south of Lake Tahoe, CA. After completing these drops on the Burnside Fire, CAL Fire ordered T-09 to make a retardant drop on the Smitty Fire in Calaveras County, CA. T-09 and her crew were on there way to the Smitty Fire when she crashed.

There is a nice seven minute montage of photographs of tanker 09 on You Tube.

I have been writing about air tankers for over two months now, and writing about wildland fires since early July 2008. I can no longer be dispassionate and uninvolved. I am involved, if only through my writing. I can not find the words to express my respect, admiration, and compassion for those who fly air tankers. What you do is incredibly risky. I know that the community of heavy air tanker pilots is a small one. I have gotten to know a couple of you through this blog. I am quite aware that it could have been you in that tanker. And it wasn’t. I was deeply saddened when I first learned of the crash from comments about a You Tube video on Tanker 09 (referenced above) five days ago.

I have grown to care about the men and women who fly, maintain, provide all means of ground support for air tankers.I have also grown to love the air tankers. I can never be “one of you”, but I do care. Writing has a way getting me up close and personal, and changing me forever.

I pray through my words and offer this entry as a memoriam for T-09 and her crew.

Gene Wahlstrom, 61, Captain of T-09 and chief pilot for Neptune Aviation with over 25 years in the aviation industry.

Greg “Gonzo” Gonsioroski, 41, First Officer, received his type rating on the P2V in the spring of 2006 and was well on his way to becoming an air tanker Captain.

Zachary VanderGriend, 25 an airframe and powerplant mechanic, was fairly new to Neptune. He got his private pilot’s certificate at the age of 17.

Tanker 09, registration number N4235T, serial number 150282, model number SP-2H, date of manufacture: 1962. Owned and operated by Neptune Aviation, Missoula, Montana.

For all of you at Neptune Aviation, I can not begin to imagine what you went through and are still going through. To the larger wildland fire fighting community, the crash of Tanker 09 happened to you as well, I can not conceive of the pain you felt and are still feeling. To the family, friends and colleagues of Gene, Gonzo, and Zach, please accept my heartfelt condolences and prayers. Tanker 09, may you keep flying in favorable winds.

I will fly with you one day.