The Littleton pilot killed yesterday when his firefighting plane crashed was the kind of guy who would clear snow from neighbors’ driveways without being asked.
Tom Risk was a caring individual, said Dan Martin, who lives across the street from Risk and his wife.
“He worked around the house a lot when he was home. Whenever we had a big snow storm, he would be the first guy out with his snowblower, and not only do his own driveway but a couple of the neighbors’,” Martin said.
Tom Risk, 66, and his crew were bound for southern New Mexico to help fight a 19,000-acre wildfire, according to the New Mexico Forestry Division.
The wildfire was threatening a home and several outbuildings and a power distribution line.
Risk was one of three crew members killed when the converted military plane owned by Neptune Aviation of Montana crashed in heavy fog in Utah’s Oquirrh Mountains.
Crew members Mike Flynn, 59, of Alamogordo, N.M., and Brian Buss, 32, of Alberton, Mont., also died in the crash.
Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park said the plane was en route from Missoula to Alamogordo when it failed to clear a mountain pass.
All three victims were working for the private Montana-based firefighting company, the sheriff said.
Investigators for the Federal Aviation Administration were at the crash site yesterday, and officials for the National Traffic Safety Board planned to arrive today, the sheriff said.
Tom McGhee: (303)954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
