Suddenly, I saw one of the planes heading into dense smoke and straight for the side of the mountain in the background. I waited to see water or flame retardant spill out of the plane, but it never came. The plane just disappeared for half a second. Then, I heard a loud BOOM! that undoubtedly echoed throughout much of Yosemite. ... With my finger still on the shutter release button, I pressed it. Waiting for the shutter to close, I pressed the button again. The plume of black smoke kept billowing upward and I managed to get a couple of shots of the black smoke, a telltale sign that the plane had crashed into the side of the mountain.