Tanker Pilots’ Deaths Fuel the Fire over Federal Benefits
By Robert Warne - August 6, 2002Lawmakers in Sacramento are making plans to ask Congress to give air tanker pilots who fight wildfires the same federal benefits police officers and firefighters receive. The active fire season this year has sparked the public’s interest in the tanker pilot’s cause.
Many are familiar with the startling footage captured in June when a tanker lost its wings and crashed near Yosemite.
In July, a Colorado fire claimed another tanker plane and also a firefighting helicopter.
The family of the helicopter pilot will receive a $259,000 inflation-adjusted crash award. They may also receive tax benefits and college tuition credits as well.
The family of the two people killed in the tanker crash won’t be eligible for the same benefits as the helicopter pilot’s family. They are covered by workers’ compensation, but because they work for a contractor their families won’t see anything from the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program.
Surviving family members of tanker pilots view the disparity in benefits as an injustice. They argue that before tanker pilots can fight a fire they must get authorization from the state or federal agency over a particular fire. This and just the fact that tanker pilots and firefighters are working to accomplish the same end—to put out the fire—survivors want Congress to act.
In California, lawmakers have drafted Assembly Joint Resolution 30 to urge Congress to include wildland firefighting pilots and their crews to receive the same benefits as public safety officers. If it passes, then it will be up to Congress to approve a bill that would specifically include tanker pilots and crews before a change can be made.
It is estimated 85 tanker pilots have died fighting fires since 1976 when the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program began.
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