NBC News reported on July 31 that the two pilots died in a plane crash in mid- air while participating in extinguishing a major fire in southern Nevada.
According to a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 8:00 Morville, the two AT8T Air Tractor aircraft were fighting with fire near Caliente when they suddenly collided at around 1:00 a.m. on July 30.
"There was only one pilot on each plane at the time. Both were killed," the FAA said in a statement, adding that it was coordinating with the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSB) to investigate the collision. The cause of the incident is not yet clear, but NTSB said that both aircraft could not land.
During firefighting, the crashed aircraft can release about 3,000 liters of fire protection and are able to move to hard-to-reach areas.
"We would like to express our sincere condolences to the families of the two unfortunate pilots," Jon Raby, representative of the Nevada Land Administration, said in a statement.
The incident occurred while more than 250 firefighters were continuing to fight to control the fire. However, the high temperature and low humidity make it difficult to put out the fire.
The fire, believed to be caused by humans, was first reported at 12:20 on the afternoon of July 29 (local time). The fire is expected to be completely controlled by August 5, according to officials.
