During the recent Swinging Bridge fire south of Jackson, residents witnessed the slurry drops and aerobatics of what is called a S.E.A.T. plane or Single Engine Air Tanker. It is impressive to watch, but also very dangerous. Tuesday, one of those S.E.A.T. planes went down while participating in a fire fight near Emmett on the western side of Idaho – and the pilot did not survive. The pilot was identified as Ricky Fulton. He was flying a T-857 aircraft owned by Aero S.E.A.T. Inc. Fulton was on an on-call contract with BLM Fire and Aviation at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. Firefighters on the scene rendered medical aid to the pilot and called for Life Flight, but the pilot did not survive his injuries.
