YOSEMITE – (INT) – Investigators say one wing of a firefighting air tanker came off before the plane slammed into a mountainside near Yosemite National Park killing the pilot.

In a preliminary report issued Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said the crew of another plane saw the tanker strike a tree resulting in the catastrophic crash.

The pilot was making his second fire retardant drop on a blaze that had just broken out.

The NTSB noted there was smoke in the area, but that visibility was good at the time of the October 7th crash.

Calfire Director Ken Pimlott said "We look forward to the final NTSB report to see if we can use the findings to help mitigate the inherent dangers of the job.”

Story Date: October 21, 2014