A helicopter used to guide aerial attacks on a Tiller area wildfire crashed Monday afternoon into a steep and remote canyon, injuring the two men aboard and shutting down helicopter water drops on the region’s blazes.

After his Huey 500 apparently lost power at about 12:30 p.m., pilot Scott Dunn expertly glided the helicopter downward while trying to choose a landing spot in the rugged old-growth forest at the Jackson-Douglas county border, said Mike Barsotti, an Oregon Department of Forestry public information officer.

Dunn then plopped the helicopter amid thick timber about 200 feet down a steep ravine in what Barsotti called a "hard landing" that escaped tragedy because of Dunn’s sharp flying.

"You couldn’t dream of a worse place to lose power," Barsotti said. "The other pilots were all saying that (Dunn) did a phenomenal job. It could have been a lot worse."

Fire crews then rescued Dunn and his passenger, firefighter Mike Cappel of Tenmile. Both men were air-lifted to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford for treatment.

Dunn was listed Monday evening in critical condition, while Cappel was listed in fair condition, hospital spokesman David Preszler said. Preszler declined to describe the nature of their injuries.

Dunn, 42, whose hometown was not available Monday night, flies for Timberland Logging in Ashland and was contracted by state foresters to battle the local blaze.

Cappel, 45, works for the Douglas Forest Protective Association and is assigned to the aerial operations division of a state forestry team in charge of fighting Jackson County’s wildfires.

Dunn and Cappel were in the air directing helicopter traffic and ensuring aerial safety over the Timbered Rock fire, a 30-acre blaze ignited by lightning July 13 about 35 air-miles north of Medford.

The Timbered Rock fire was burning about 7 miles north of the Wall Creek fire, which firefighters officially contained Monday night at 321 acres north of Trail.

After the accident, the remaining four helicopters were grounded for the day. Barsotti said the lack of air support likely will cause the fire to grow another 20 acres by this morning. The remaining helicopters are expected back in the air today, Barsotti said.

The accident cast a pall over weary firefighters’ nine straight days of battling various lightning-ignited blazes.

"I’d say the feeling here was one of shock and dismay and great concern for two families," said Karen Gillespie, a Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman assigned to the firefighting effort.

When Dunn’s helicopter apparently lost power, he radioed a mayday distress call to four water-dropping helicopters nearby and began to auto-rotate the blades, Barsotti said. That allowed the blades to spin parallel to the ground and let Dunn glide the helicopter in search of a place to land, he said.

Dunn then had one chance to change the pitch of the blade to slow the helicopter down shortly before impact, Barsotti said. Slow down too early and the helicopter free-falls, while slowing down too late creates a more forceful impact, he said.

Dunn "was right on," Barsotti said.

Representatives of the Department of Forestry, the U.S. Forest Service and a federal aviation investigator have been assembled and will delve into the crash.

Barsotti said the cause of the mechanical failure was unknown Monday.

"We assume that helicopters, like your cars, just work all the time," Barsotti said.

Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail mfreeman@mailtribune.com