Greg King and Ryan Cutter died when their contract helicopter went down during water-dropping operations on the Dome Fire, the latest in a deadly year for wildland firefighters across the West.
The two men were flying a Super Puma helicopter on a water-bucket run over the 3,420-acre Dome Fire on Sunday afternoon when the aircraft crashed southeast of Ostrander Lake, deep inside Yosemite National Park. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed both pilots were the only people aboard. Neither survived, AccuWeather reported.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have opened investigations into the crash. No cause has been identified. The helicopter was under contract to support firefighting operations on a blaze that had already drawn hundreds of personnel to one of America's most iconic national parks.
Fly Precision, the private firefighting contractor that employed both men, identified the pilots as Greg King, 56, and Ryan Cutter. The aircraft was a Eurocopter AS32, a heavy-lift Super Puma, equipped for water-bucket drops over rugged terrain, the New York Post reported.
King brought years of wildland firefighting experience from Alaska, where he had served alongside the state's Division of Forestry and Fire Protection before moving into contract work. Jones, Fly Precision's chief of aviation, described him in blunt terms.
"Greg was one of the best of the best in the community for his piloting skills, his judgment, and his personality."
The Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection issued its own statement mourning King:
"Greg was a dedicated aviator and a dear friend to many of us. We are mourning both pilots who bravely supported firefighting efforts, and our hearts go out to their families."
Fly Precision's company statement captured the weight of the loss simply. "It is with unimaginable sadness and broken hearts that we share the loss of two beloved members of our team," the firm said, asking for privacy for the families.
On Monday, first responders and community members gathered in Mariposa County for a procession honoring King and Cutter. CAL FIRE documented the tribute. The men who flew into smoke and fire to protect a national park were carried home through the county they had been trying to shield.
It was a grim echo of a similar tragedy earlier this year in Utah, where two helicopter pilots were killed fighting a wildfire in Fishlake National Forest and crews could not even reach the crash site.
The Yosemite crash pushes an already grim toll higher. At least 14 people have died while helping fight wildfires in the United States this year, the most since 2022, when 25 deaths were recorded, the Associated Press reported.
Those numbers land hard against a fire season that has already tested resources across the western states and Canada. Wildfires have swept across the region, forcing evacuations and stretching thin the crews who fly into conditions most people flee.
Precision Helicopters said its pilots "brought honor to the mission," adding that "their dedication and service will never be forgotten." The company asked for compassion as its team grieves, Fox News reported.
The Dome Fire was first reported on the morning of September 15, roughly a quarter-mile north of Chilnualna Falls Trail near the Wawona area of Yosemite. By Monday evening, it had consumed 3,420 acres, roughly 4.7 square miles, and was only 15 percent contained, with approximately 580 personnel on the lines.
Fire restrictions had been in effect inside the park at elevations of 8,000 feet and below since August 1. The National Park Service has not confirmed a cause but is asking anyone who saw a campfire along the Chilnualna Falls Trail between September 9 and September 15 to call a tip line at 888-653-0009 or submit information online.
Officials have not said whether a campfire caused the Dome Fire. But the NPS tip request, targeting a specific trail and a specific six-day window, during a period when fire restrictions were already in force, suggests investigators are looking hard at human activity as the spark.
The fire has continued spreading into the footprint of the 2017 Empire Fire. Smoke reduced air quality in Wawona and Yosemite Valley, at times reaching levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Chilnualna Falls Trail and several surrounding backcountry areas remain closed, though no evacuation orders or warnings were in effect as of Monday.
Yosemite itself stayed open. The park's visitors kept coming. The fire kept burning. And the people fighting it kept flying.
The crash investigation by the FAA and NTSB is in its earliest stages. Federal investigators have relied heavily on available evidence in past helicopter crash probes, but no details about the circumstances of Sunday's downing have been released. The Washington Examiner noted the FAA described the crash as occurring "under unknown circumstances."
What is known is that two men climbed into a helicopter, flew toward a wall of smoke in one of the most rugged landscapes in California, and did not come back. They were contract pilots, not government employees with federal pensions, but private-sector workers hired to do some of the most dangerous flying in aviation.
Wildland firefighting has always carried severe risks for the men and women on the front lines, whether on the ground or in the air. The 2026 season has made that cost impossible to ignore.
The open questions around the Dome Fire's origin deserve answers. If an illegal campfire, lit in defiance of restrictions that had been posted for six weeks, started a blaze that has now killed two men, burned thousands of acres of national parkland, and tied up hundreds of firefighters, the public has a right to know who is responsible.
The NPS tip request is pointed. A six-day window. A specific trail. Fire restrictions already on the books. That is not a general call for help. That is an agency looking for someone.
Greg King and Ryan Cutter flew toward danger because that was the job. The least the rest of us owe them is accountability for how the danger started in the first place.
