PHOTOS: When Grass Valley air tanker pilot Abbie Crews was in the fourth grade, she got her first glimpse into the aviation world she would want to become a part of after seeing the U.S. Air Force’s demonstration squadron of F-16 fighter jets — the Thunderbirds.
“That’s kind of what got me the aviation bug,” Crews said.
The Alaska native, who already earned her private pilot’s license in high school, decided to join the U.S. Air Force to fly in its academy and has been flying professionally since 2008. But when Crews moved to Nevada City after getting out of the Air Force in 2015, she had very little knowledge about the state’s firefighting efforts or its need for tanker pilots until she met some of them herself.
“I was doing some corporate charter and applying for the airlines,” Crews said.