The first retardant drop on a fire (on the Washburn Fire) and its first day on contract was July 14 for Coulson’s “new” Tanker 139, a Boeing 737. Coulson photo.On July 14 Coulson Aviation’s newest air tanker conversion went on US Forest contract. Tanker 139 is a Boeing 737-300 and like its three predecessor 737 FIRELINERS is multi-use and can carry 15,150 liters (4,000 gallons) of retardant or up to 72 passengers.
T-139’s first retardant drop on a fire was on Yosemite National Park’s Washburn Fire in California. Its registration number is N619SW and it started a 120-day call when needed contract July 14.
Coulson has sold two other 737s to New South Wales Australia and to the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina. Coulson Aviation began their 737 project in 2017 when they purchased six 737-300’s from Southwest Airlines which had decided to replace them with the new 737-Max.
The first retardant drop on a fire (on the Washburn Fire) and its first day on contract was July 14 for Coulson’s “new” Tanker 139, a Boeing 737. Seen here with its sister ship, Tanker 137. Coulson photo.
2 Comments
Welcome aboard, Tanker 139! Sorry I missed your first appearance on FlightRadar24 day before yesterday. I’ve been watching the Washburn Fire air assault like a hawk and missed your first drop. Dang!
BTW, love the new ‘livery’!
F+%# Yeh.
The tanker fleet is slowly modernizing, now it’s time for the FS to do the same and fix it’s contracting shop.
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