VANCOUVER – A 58-year-old pilot who spent the past three decades of his life fighting forest fires in British Columbia was one of two men killed when an air tanker crashed near Lytton, B.C., Saturday.
Tim Whiting, from the Vancouver suburb of Langley, and co-pilot 36-year-old Brian Tilley of Edmonton, were about to drop chemical fire retardant on a newly sparked fire in the Fraser Canyon area when their Convair 580 crashed around 8:30 p.m.
Initially search-and-rescue crews were unable to reach the crash site because of the intensity of the wildfires – including one sparked by the crash itself – but were able to reach the site by helicopter at first light Sunday and confirm both crew members were dead.
Conair spokesman Rick Pedersen said Whiting had been with Conair for 28 years and Tilley, while just hired this spring, had significant flying experience.
Whiting’s Facebook page says he worked for Conair in the summer and the United Nations in the winter. Photos show him flying planes in Chile and Timor.
According to his Facebook page, he has a daughter living in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
Frederick Lepine, a friend of Whiting’s, said in an e-mail that “Tim was a very experienced and capable pilot and a longtime friend.”
Another friend of Whiting’s, who called him by the nickname “Timber,” said on Facebook that his “professionalism and dedication to the job will always be remembered.”
Deanna Doward said in an e-mail she knew Whiting when he was in his early 20s.
“He was a happy, laid back and just a genuinely nice guy,” she wrote. “He had a real interest in flying back then, too.”
Just days before the crash, Whiting told a CBC News crew that his plane was a “wonderful aircraft” and that his biggest concern fighting wildfires was that he might not be able to get a fire under control.
Transportation Safety Board spokesman Bill Yearwood said Monday that two investigators were at the crash site Sunday afternoon and planned to return Monday but were delayed because the helipad they were using was destroyed by fire.
Yearwood said investigators found evidence the pilots dumped some flame retardant right before the crash.
“It’s an indication they may have encountered problems at that point,” he said.
Yearwood said a second airplane was flying in the “bird dog” position right behind the plane that crashed.
“Our hope is those people will have some information to help us understand what was happening just before the crash,” said Yearwood, noting they haven’t been interviewed yet.
Pedersen said this is Conair’s first fatal accident in nearly 20 years, though it has had a number of non-fatal accidents, including one last year in which one of its aircraft crashed into Okanagan Lake.
The plane that went down Saturday was built in the 1950s. It was originally a passenger aircraft but, after acquiring it in 2003, Conair converted it into an air tanker.
Premier Gordon Campbell expressed his condolences in a news release on Sunday, saying: “British Columbians owe a debt of gratitude to those who bravely put their lives in danger to keep our homes, our families and our communities safe.”
Saturday’s crash is the second forest-fire related aviation accident in the past week.
On Thursday, two men were injured when their helicopter crashed near Lillooet.
There are about 375 fires burning across B.C., most of which erupted due to lightning strikes over the past few days.
On Saturday alone 43 new fires were sparked, 13 by people, the rest by lightning.
Kayla Pepper, a fire information officer in Kamloops, said cooler temperatures and calm winds kept most of the fires in that region stable over the past couple of days, including the Mason Lake fire which is now 50 per cent contained.
“We’ve been doing pretty well,” said Pepper. “We’ve been lucky around here.”
It’s been a different story in the Cariboo region, however, which has experienced low humidity and gusty winds.
“There was aggressive fire behaviour on the majority of fires in the Cariboo,” said information officer Grace Pickell, noting many have led to evacuations and road closures.
Lytton is about 260 kilometres up the Fraser River from Vancouver.
Vancouver Sun
With files from Mike Barber, Postmedia News
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