CALIENTE — Two small air-tankers collided in mid-air in southeast Nevada on Thursday while battling a wildfire about 150 miles (241 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas.
The pilots were the only people on board the single-engine planes that collided about 1 p.m. during a mission attacking flames on the fire about 17 miles (27 kilometers) southwest of Caliente, according to Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Their condition wasn’t immediately known.
The Bureau of Land Management says the fire broke out Wednesday in Lincoln County's Rainbow Canyon. It has burned an estimated 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) of small timber and grass.
Nearly 200 firefighters were battling the blaze in near-record heat and low humidity. Smoke from the fire was visible in southwest Utah.
No other details have been released.
Gregor said the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.