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Calvin Gene Wahlstrom

Chief Pilot

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection contracts with private companies such as Neptune Aviation Services to provide airtanker services. The aircraft involved in this incident was a Lockheed SP-2H airplane that was built in 1962. The crew was dispatched to provide a water drop on a wildland fire burning in Calaveras County, California. The flight originated at the Reno/Stead (4SD) Airport, in Reno, Nevada. An air tanker base employee who witnessed the accident reported observing the airplane taxi to Runway 32 "...and everything appeared normal." The witness reported watching the airplane takeoff, and at an elevation estimated to be between 100 to 300 feet above the ground, he observed the left jet engine emitting flames, followed by the left wing being engulfed in flames. The witness further reported that about 2 seconds later the airplane entered a left wing down attitude before impacting terrain and bursting into flames. Upon investigation by the NTSB and the FAA, pieces of the jet engine were found about 500 feet from the departure end of Runway 32. For additional information about this crash, consult the National Transportation Safety Board web site at https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/query.asp - NTSB identification SEA08GA194.
photo of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial
Calvin Gene Wahlstrom was honored on the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland and was included in the USFA’s annual report Firefighter Fatalities in the United States.

Department information

Neptune Aviation Services, Inc.
1 Corporate Way
USNG: 11T QM 2256 9978
Missoula, Montana 59808

Chief: Chief Executive Officer Mark Timmons

Age: 61
Rank: Chief Pilot
Classification: Wildland Contract
Incident date: September 1, 2008 18:10
Date of death: September 1, 2008
Cause of fatal injury: Vehicle Collision - Includes Aircraft
Nature of fatal injury: Trauma
Activity type: Driving/Operating Vehicle/Apparatus
Emergency duty: Yes
Duty type: Responding
Fixed property use: Outdoor Property

Last updated: November 10, 2022