Air tankers in the news

S2 loadingFor the last two weeks air tankers have been in the news much more than normal. Even before the two air tanker incidents on June 3, when Tanker 11 crashed killing the two pilots and Tanker 55 landed on disabled landing gear, there was more interest by the news media on the subject than you would normally see. But with the two crashes happening hours apart, this became a story that most large and small news organizations wanted to carry. It was an easy topic for them to grab onto — two dead firefighting heroes, a remarkable landing captured on video with landing gear that failed to extend, a tanker fleet reduced by 80 percent over the last 10 years, museum-age crashing airplanes, Senators issuing press releases calling for GAO investigations, the President signs a bill about air tankers, and contracts are awarded for seven “next generation” jet-powered air tankers.

Since June 1 we have been interviewed by a number of media outlets, including (in chronological order) KSFR radio in Santa Fe, The Guardian newspaper and web site, ABC news in Denver, Colorado Public Radio, Associated Press, ABC news in New York City, and the Denver Post. No doubt this is just a passing fancy. When the monsoon rains begin in a few weeks and the fires in the southwest and Colorado become a distant memory, interest in air tankers will decline and joggers on the Capitol Mall in Washington will hear a sigh of relief emanating from the U.S. Forest Service offices in the Department of Agriculture building. Unless — heaven forbid, another Korean War vintage air tanker crashes killing more firefighters, or more mega-fires burn hundreds of houses in another part of the country and there are not enough air tankers to go around, again.

The addition of seven air tankers to the existing nine, while it is helpful, is not a long-term solution to the air tanker shortage. Neither is the temporary addition of eight borrowed from Alaska, Canada, and California. The USFS should have awarded contracts for at least 20 additional air tankers, not 7.

It will be interesting to see over the next year if the USFS develops a detailed long-term strategy for aerial firefighting which meets the approval of the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General, two offices that have been critical of the USFS’s previous air tanker reports. Then, Congress will need a specific, detailed proposal that they can consider, and we will see if the *Senators and Congressmen who have called for changes in the air tanker program will support improvements by actually doing something meaningful, rather than just talking and writing letters.

*Senators that have questioned the U.S. Forest Service’s management of the air tanker program include Ron Wyden of OR, Jon Kyl, AZ; Lisa Murkowski, AK; Jeff Bingaman, NM; Ron Wyden, OR; Mark Udall, CO; Jon Tester, MT; and Dianne Feinstein, CA.

3 Montana families sue USFS over escaped prescribed fire

Three families in Montana whose property burned when a prescribed fire escaped on the Helena National Forest are suing the federal government, seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial. The Davis prescribed fire northwest of Helena, Montana escaped on August 26, 2010 and burned over 2,000 acres of private and U.S. Forest Service land. Approximately 450 acres belonging to multiple landowners burned.  The three landowners in the suit own a total of 296 acres and claim “total destruction” of their property.

Below is an excerpt from the Ravalli Republic:

“The Davis Fire took place under extreme weather conditions consisting of gusty winds and very warm temperatures. In fact, the prescribed fire was set during a fire weather warning,” John Heenan, the attorney for the families, wrote in the lawsuit. “The Forest Service failed to follow its own guidelines for proper prescribed fire implementation in starting the Davis Fire.

“Had the Forest Service notified plaintiffs, they would have been able to take measures to protect their properties and/or ensured that the Forest Service took measures to do so.”

Wildfire Today covered the Davis Fire extensively in 2010. We wrote the following on November 22, 2010 after the U.S. Forest Service released their report on the incident:
Continue reading “3 Montana families sue USFS over escaped prescribed fire”

224 homes burned in New Mexico’s Little Bear Fire

Little Bear Fire - June 1, 2012
Little Bear Fire – June 1, 2012. Flickr

It has been ten days the Little Bear fire in southern New Mexico started, and in that time it has burned 224 homes, blackened 39,912 acres, and firefighters have it 40 percent contained. On the more populated east side the fire has moved into areas with less continuous fuel, slowing the spread and making it easier for firefighters to construct fire line. On Wednesday most of the fire activity was on the west side. Tanker 911, a DC-10 was used in this area, dropping 11,600 gallons in each sortie.

Map of the Little Bear Fire, June 14, 2012 MODIS
Map of the Little Bear Fire, June 14, 2012 MODIS

A more detailed map of the Little Bear Fire can be found HERE.

The video below is a good summary of the fire activity on Wednesday.

The DC-10 is shown making a couple of drops in the excellent video below.

Below are more photos of the Little Bear fire from Flickr:
Continue reading “224 homes burned in New Mexico’s Little Bear Fire”

USFS awards contracts for seven additional air tankers

BAe-146
Tanker 40, a BAe-146, during tests. Photo by Tronos

UPDATED at 7:39 p.m. MT, June 13, 2012

Following the President’s signing of the bill that waived the 30-day notification period for informing Congress about new air tanker contracts, the U.S. Forest Service announced they have awarded new exclusive use contracts for seven additional air tankers.

Four companies will provide three next generation airtankers in 2012 and four in 2013:

  • Neptune Aviation Services, Inc. will provide two BAe-146s in 2012;
  • Minden Air Corporation will provide one BAe-146 in 2012 and 1 BAe-146 in 2013;
  • Aero Air, LLC will provide two MD87s in 2013; and
  • Aero Flite, Inc. of Kingman, Arizona will provide one Avro RJ85 in 2013.

The AVRO RJ85 is a variant of the 3,000-gallon BAe-146 with more efficient jet engines, produced between 1993 and 2002.

The MD-87 is a variant of the MD-80, a twin-engine jet, and as an airliner carried 114 to 139 passengers. It was produced from 1987 to 1992 and cruises at about 500 mph, similar to the BAe-146. There are estimates that the MD-87 will carry 4,000 gallons of retardant, but that is not confirmed.

Neptune and Minden previously held the only exclusive use contracts this year for large air tankers. Neptune now has seven P2Vs and one BAe-146 under contract, and Minden has two P2Vs, however one of Minden’s P2V’s was damaged June 3 when the the landing gear failed to fully extend while landing. On the same day, two pilots were killed when one of Neptune’s P2Vs crashed in Utah. Neptune’s Tanker 40, the only BAe-146 presently working as an air tanker, began service in the fall of 2011 and is still under interim approval from the Interagency Air Tanker Board.

Minden has been working on converting a BAe-146 into an air tanker for quite some time, and in January they expected to begin “running water through it”. As far as we know they have not started the drop tests administered by the Interagency Air Tanker Board which are required before it can be fully certified. Minden’s version has a gravity tank, while the Tronos/Neptune design uses gravity aided by positive air pressure in the cabin of the aircraft to help push the retardant out of four nozzles.

Neptune leases their existing BAe-146 from Tronos, a Canadian company, and has said they plan to eventually replace all of their P2Vs with the quad-jet BAe-146s.

Conspicuously absent from the list of new contracts were the Very Large Air Tankers, the DC-10 and 747.

Below are the descriptions of the MD-87 and the BAe-146 from the January, 2012 U.S. Forest Service Large Airtanker Modernization Strategy. (Note: I don’t know where the USFS got the “380 mph” speeds for these two aircraft. This differs from Wikipedia, and also the real world. Even if they meant knots, they are still wrong. On June 11 Tanker 40 cruised at 492 mph and 25,000 feet on a short 37-minute hop from Winslow, AZ to Albuquerque, NM. This 112+ mph error for both aircraft is not insignificant and calls into question some of the other data in the report.)
Continue reading “USFS awards contracts for seven additional air tankers”

President signs bill to speed contracting of air tankers

747 drop Railbelt fire
The 747 air tanker dropping on the Railbelt fire in Alaska in 2009

UPDATE at 2:45 p.m. MT, June 13, 2012

The U.S. Forest service, shortly after the President signed the bill, announced they have awarded contracts for seven additional air tankers.

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Today the President signed Bill Number S.3261 which could shorten the time required to issue new contracts for air tankers. The bill waives a requirement that the U.S. Forest Service give Congress 30 days notice before they award a contract for an air tanker. This only applies to the solicitation that closed in February for what is described as “next-generation” air tankers which will have turbine or jet engines, be able to cruise at 300 knots (345 mph), and carry, preferably, 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of retardant.

Many companies submitted proposals and hope to receive new exclusive use contracts for their proposed or existing air tankers. Some of the aircraft only exist in the minds of the companies and would not be airborne for a year or two at best, and others could be flying over fires this year such as the two DC-10s, the 747, and more BAe-146s. Other air frames that are being considered, longer term, include the Dash8/Q400, C-27J, MD-87, C-130J, C-130H, and the B-737.

The White House released a signing statement about the bill.

More information about the air tankers that are currently available for wildfire suppression.

Tanker 11 went down while turning onto final approach

The NTSB has released a two-paragraph statement about the accident in which air tanker pilots Todd Tompkins and Ron Chambless were killed. The P2V went down June 3 while they were helping to suppress the White Rock fire in Utah. Here is the complete text of the statement.

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NTSB Identification: WPR12GA243

  • Nonscheduled 14 CFR Public Use
  • Accident occurred Sunday, June 03, 2012 in Modena, UT
  • Aircraft: LOCKHEED P2V-7, registration: N14447
  • Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On June 3, 2012, at 1347 mountain daylight time, a Lockheed P2V-7, N14447 (using call sign Tanker 11), collided with mountainous terrain while conducting firefighting operations 20 miles north of Modena, Utah. The airplane was operated by Neptune Aviation Services under contract with the US Forest Service as a public aerial firefighting flight. Both pilots were fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and a post crash fire. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company flight plan had been filed. The flight originated in Cedar City, Utah, at 1315.

While conducting its second retardant drop of the day, Tanker 11 followed behind the lead airplane into the drop zone. The drop zone was located in a shallow valley that was 0.4 miles wide and 350 feet deep. The lead airplane flew a shallow right-hand turn on to final, and dropped to an altitude of 150 feet above the valley floor over the intended drop area. While making the right turn on to final behind the lead plane, Tanker 11 impacted rising terrain that was about 700 feet left of the lead airplane’s flight path.

(end of NTSB statement)

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There had been conflicting reports in the media about whether Tanker 11 crashed before, during, or after it dropped a load of retardant. This statement from the NTSB indicates that the aircraft crashed before it reached the intended drop area, but does not specify if the retardant was jettisoned, as might be done if the aircraft was experiencing difficulties. As usual in these investigations, it will be many months, or years, before the NTSB releases their final report.

A memorial service to celebrate the lives of Todd Tompkins and Ron Chambless will be held Thursday, June 14 in Boise, Idaho.

UPDATE: Fire Aviation has an article about the final NTSB report. And, here is a link to all articles on Fire Aviation tagged “T-11”.