![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/greg-king-with-his-partner-and-two-stepdaughters-IFWXFDGZYRETVD63XZXX4SXOLQ.png\")
<\/p>\nA Kiwi was one of two helicopter pilots killed when their aircraft crashed while conducting water drops on a wildfire at Yosemite National Park.<\/p>\n
The pilots were the only people on board and worked for the contract aircraft company Precision. One of the pilots was New Zealander Greg King, who previously worked for the Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection and fought several wildland fires in that state before moving to Precision, agency spokesperson Emery Johnson said.<\/p>\n
King had been living and working in Alaska with his partner and was deployed to California to help suppress wildfires. <\/p>\n
His close relatives worked at the agency and gave their permission to release his name, Johnson said. The identity of the second pilot has not yet been released.<\/p>\n
Greg King was one of two pilots killed while carrying out water drops at the national park. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
The Alaska forestry and fire agency called the deaths a devastating loss for the entire wildland firefighting community.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreg 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,\u201d the agency statement said.<\/p>\n
Precision wrote on social media that the company was \u201cstruggling to find the words\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask for privacy and compassion for their families and our team as we grieve this tremendous loss,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
Before moving to Alaska, King had worked for several New Zealand alpine helicopter companies, including The Helicopter Line, Mount Cook Ski Planes & Helicopters, and Ar Safaris. <\/p>\n
The Helicopter Line chief executive Mark Quickfall told 1News the company was “deeply saddened” to learn of King’s death. <\/p>\n
“Greg was a valued member of our team at Aoraki Mount Cook for many years from 2005, before relocating to the USA,” Quickfall said. <\/p>\n
“He was a great person and will be remembered very fondly by everyone who had the privilege of working alongside him.<\/p>\n
“Our thoughts are with Greg\u2019s family, friends and colleagues at this incredibly difficult time.”<\/p>\n
‘Like losing a brother’<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Greg King with his partner and two stepdaughters. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n
Andy Jones, chief of aviation for the State of Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection, told 1News the firefighting community in Alaska was like a family. <\/p>\n
“It’s like losing a brother, and it hurts.” <\/p>\n
Jones said King was a great pilot and had mentored many aspiring aviators, calling him “a legend amongst all of us”. <\/p>\n
“You are always aspiring to be like a Greg King. And I think what made Greg unique was that he was good at what he did.” <\/p>\n
He said King had met his partner in Alaska, who also works for the division. <\/p>\n
“We feel the pain that is currently being experienced because of this tragic loss.” <\/p>\n
Jones described King as “kind and compassionate”, calling him “a good human being overall”. <\/p>\n
“Always had a smile on his face. You know, if you look at any of the pictures, he always had a smile.<\/p>\n
“The way he brought this level of just joy and happiness and a passion to what he did, like doing the best he can in the profession and loving everybody, as a whole family.”<\/p>\n
At least 14 killed fighting wildfires in the US this year<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/this-photo-provided-by-the-national-parks-service-shows-the-H25Q6PGWEBEMRNQ6SP23WALCHU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
This photo provided by the National Parks Service shows the Dome Fire burning in Yosemite National Park (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
At least 14 people have died while helping with wildfires in the US this year, the most since 2022 when 25 deaths were recorded, according to government reports. In August, two helicopter pilots died while helping fight a fire in Utah, and a helicopter pilot in Colorado crashed into a reservoir.<\/p>\n
Details about the circumstances surrounding the crash were not immediately released. It will be investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.<\/p>\n
The Super Puma helicopter had been using a water bucket to help suppress the fire when it went down near a lake, said Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson with the Federal Complex Incident Management Team overseeing the firefighting response.<\/p>\n
Roughly 580 people are fighting the Dome Fire, which started September 15 near Wawona, California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. It’s burning on about 12.3 square kilometres and is about 15% contained.<\/p>\n
The crash site was southeast of Ostrander Lake, which is roughly 11 kilometres northeast of Wawona and roughly 14 kilometres south of Yosemite\u2019s iconic El Capitan.<\/p>\n
Other firefighters who have died this month include one in Oklahoma who suffered a medical emergency while fighting a wildfire, and another in Oregon who was hit by a tree that broke while he was cutting it in Mt Hood National Forest.<\/p>\n
Also in August, a wildfire officer was killed in Oklahoma after getting trapped while evacuating a burning building in a wildland fire; a firefighter died following a medical emergency during a wildfire in Minnesota; and a bulldozer operator got overrun by flames in Oregon.<\/p>\n
– Additional reporting by Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Kiwi was one of two helicopter pilots killed when their aircraft crashed while conducting water drops on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,64,40,38,41,39,4143],"class_list":["post-608071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-wildfires"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}