The Littleton pilot killed Saturday 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 snowstorm, 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.
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, west of Salt Lake City.
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, several outbuildings and a power distribution line.
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, Mont., 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 Saturday, and officials for the National Traffic Safety Board arrived Sunday, the sheriff said.
