Helicopter Crashes While Fighting Wildfire Near Leavenworth

CHELAN COUNTY - A helicopter crashed Wednesday while ferrying supplies to firefighters in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness northwest of here, killing the pilot.

No one else was aboard when the aircraft went down about 20 miles northwest of Leavenworth in the North Cascades, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Harum said.

The pilot was Mike Ward, 55, of Clayton, Ga., said Rick Acosta of the U.S. Forest Service. Ward was an employee of Helicopter Express of Lawrenceville, Ga.

A team of Forest Service and National Transportation Safety Board officials were due to arrive Thursday to investigate the crash, Acosta said.

The Bell 205 helicopter had been contracted by the U.S. Forest Service to bring equipment to firefighters battling a small lightning-caused fire when it crashed at 10:20 a.m.