Uncategorized Archives - Page 1108 of 1617

USFS announces large air tanker strategy

Bill GabbertFebruary 10, 2012May 5, 2012Uncategorizedair tanker4 Comments

The U.S. Forest Service issued a news release today saying they were announcing a strategy for replacing aging large air tankers. We have been waiting for a replacement strategy since 2002 when two air tankers independently fell apart in midair killing five crew persons. The repercussions from that, and weeding out some of the most unsuitable old air tankers, resulted in the size of the air tanker fleet decreasing from 44 to the 11 we have today.

The “strategy” announced on a Friday afternoon where news releases go to die, is almost identical to the details that appeared in the Request for Proposals that the USFS issued in November of 2011. As we reported then, the agency may add 7 to 35 25 turbine-powered air tankers to their contracted air tanker fleet. That RFP, which was amended several times, said these “next generation” aircraft must be powered by turbine engines and have a “target” capacity of 3,000 to 5,000 gallons, with 2,400 gallons being the minimum acceptable, and they must be able to cruise at 300 knots (345 mph) at 12,000 feet. Today’s news release differs from those specifications only in that it states the capacity must be “a minimum of 1,800 gallons of retardant with more than 3,000 gallons preferred”. Type 2 air tankers have a 1,800 to 3,000 gallon capacity while a Type 1 air tanker can carry at least 3,000 gallons. Very large air tankers (VLAT) such as Evergreen’s 747 can hold up to 20,000 gallons.

The news release issued today does add one interesting tidbit (emphasis added):

Airtankers provided under contract by private industry will continue to be essential in effective wildland firefighting. Long term, the Agencies will continue to explore the costs and benefits of all types of aircraft and ownership models.

This leaves the door open to adding government owned contractor operated (GOCO) air tankers, or even government owned government operated (GOGO) air tankers to the current situation, which is contractor owned contractor operated (COCO). However, the USFS is extremely, incredibly slow and indecisive, and they are very, very resistant to adopt any new wildfire aviation technologies or aviation platforms. So for them to make any major change, especially to GOCO or GOGO, is inconceivable, in spite of the all-options-are-on-the-table sentiment expressed in the news release..

The excerpt said they will continue to explore the costs and benefits of all types of aircraft. The release also includes this:

The fleet of aircraft that are used for wildland fire suppression also includes water scoopers, single engine airtankers, very large airtankers and helicopters.

This is intended to give the casual reader the impression that the USFS actively encourages and uses all of those types of aircraft, which is not the case. It is very obvious that certain individuals in the USFS have a strong bias against water scoopers and VLATs.

Later we will examine some of the information that is in the $840,092 Rand report. The USFS commissioned Rand to make recommendations about the future of the air tanker program, but refuses to release the pricey report even under a Freedom of Information Act request.

“I consider myself a resource manager, and my tool is fire”

Bill GabbertFebruary 10, 2012February 10, 2012Uncategorized1 Comment

The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center on yesterday posted another very interesting video interview with a wildland fire professional. This one features Brett Fay, the Assistant Fire Management Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region.

A couple of his statements stand out:

I consider myself a resource manager, and my tool is fire.

Early in his career he hoped that…

…by 2010 we would be in a system where we would be managing more fires than we’re putting out, that we’d have a public that understood that they need to take care of their private property if they live next to a wildland, that we’d be killing less people over time because we’d be exposing less people. That idealism has gone. I’m not quite a cynic yet, but I can see it from here.

On a side note, I love these LLC interviews with wildland fire professionals, and I will be glad to donate to the LLC a wired lavalier microphone if they would promise to use it.

Head of Arkansas Forestry Commission resigns

Bill GabbertFebruary 10, 2012August 25, 2019Uncategorized

Today John T. Shannon, the State Forester and head of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, told the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee that he was resigning, effective at the end of the day.

An audit by the Committee found that the Forestry Commission had improperly used federal grant money for ongoing expenses and overstated the amount of federal money it had available, contributing to a $4 million shortfall at the agency. Last month 34 employees at the agency were laid off but 15 wildland firefighter jobs were restored on Wednesday when the Governor moved $550,000 into the Commission’s budget.

In January Mr. Shannon asked the legislature for nearly $4 million so the Commission could pay back grant money to the federal government that had been used improperly. He has served as the State Forester since 1994.

Air tankers pass FAA mandated inspections

Bill GabbertFebruary 9, 2012August 8, 2017Uncategorizedair tanker, Photo by Bill G2 Comments

Lead 6-5 and Tanker 45 — Lead plane 6-5 and Tanker 45, a P2V, on the Whoopup fire near Newcastle, WY, July 18, 2011. Photo by Bill Gabbert

The inspections that the Federal Aviation Administration required within 24 hours of receiving their Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD), cleared the other ten P2V air tankers. Yesterday we reported that after a 24-inch crack was found in a wing spar and skin on one of Neptune Aviation’s P2V-7 air tankers the FAA issued the directive requiring that all P2V aircraft be inspected. The EAD said:

This condition, if not detected and corrected, could result in significant loss of structural integrity of the wing.

The NTSB investigation found that the Hawkins and Powers C-130A air tanker that crashed on June 17, 2002 near Walker, California when the wings fell off, had a series of fatigue cracks in the skin panel of the right wing which grew together to become 12-inches long.

The Missoulian has more information about the results of this week’s inspections:

“We had one aircraft with significant cracking,” Neptune president Dan Snyder said Wednesday. “But is this another Aero Union situation, where we have zero tankers for the fire season? No. The tankers will be back up.

We cut pieces out of the aircraft, but we still don’t know what caused it.””

Mr. Snyder was referring to the cancellation of the U.S. Forest Service’s contract with Aero Union’s eight P3 Orion air tankers over a safety inspection issue. This reduced the fleet from 19 air tankers at the beginning of the 2011 fire season to 11. Aero Union then shut down and is auctioning their air tankers and other assets. In 2002 there were 44 large air tankers on USFS contracts.

Be-200 air tanker to seek approval from Interagency Air Tanker Board

Bill GabbertFebruary 8, 2012January 4, 2014UncategorizedBe-20011 Comments

In light of the P2V air tankers having to undergo FAA-required inspections after a 12-inch crack was found in a wing spar and skin on one of Neptune Aviation’s P2V-7 air tankers, it seems like a good time to look at an alternative air tanker. The Russian-made Beriev Be-200 amphibious air tanker will be tested in about three months to determine if it meets the criteria established by the Interagency Air Tanker Board (IATB). Certification by the Board is required for any air tanker that is under contract with the U.S. land management agencies. Approval by the Board is not a given; it took a year for the BAe-146 to obtain “interim” approval and then a year later, in December, 2012 the Board will decide if it is fully qualified.

Shortly after the European Aviation Safety Agency, their version of the FAA, issued an approval and Type Certificate for the Be-200 to the Beriev Aircraft Company on September 9, 2010, the Russian Emergencies Ministry signed a $330 million contract to purchase eight of the aircraft configured for wildland firefighting. This made good on a promise Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made during their August, 2010 fire siege to acquire more air tankers, including the Be-200.

Wildfire Today talked with David E. Baskett, president of TTE International Inc., who hopes to acquire a fleet of ten Be-200′s and lease them to air tanker operators in the United States. In April of 2010 Mr. Baskett arranged to have a Be-200 fly into the Santa Maria, California airport where it was on static display and made a demonstration water drop. He returned today from visiting the Beriev offices in Russia and said he expects to receive the first Be-200 as early as the first quarter of 2013, depending on financing. After that he could add up to two to three additional aircraft each year.

In addition to passing the IATB tests, the aircraft will need to obtain from the FAA the same type of certifications it received from the European Aviation Safety Agency. Mr. Baskett said that process is in the works and will be guided by a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Russian governments for cross-certifying aircraft from the two countries.

Check out this very impressive seven-second video of a Be-200 dropping on a fire in Russia.

Here are some of the specifications of the Be-200:

Cost: approximately $30-41 million
Design: purpose-built air tanker, internal gravity-drop tank, can scoop from lakes or ocean, or load retardant at an airport.
Retardant or water capacity: approximately 3,000 US gallons. Class A foam or gel can be mixed into the tank while airborne.
Cruising speed: 348 mph
Maximum speed: 435 mph
Minimum speed: 98 mph
Ferry range (one hour reserve) 2,051 miles
Engines: two high-mounted turbofan D-436TP, “maritime”, corrosion-resistant.
Crew: two

Mr. Baskett will submit a bid or proposal in response to the U.S. Forest Service’s Request for Proposal for what they are calling the “next generation” air tanker. Those proposals are due by February 15 and contracts should be awarded in April. The RFP has provisions for air tankers that are not yet approved by the IATB which will begin service with the USFS in later years. He also said the USFS expects to issue another RFP for scooper air tankers in a few months and his company will participate in that as well. The Be-200 will be the basis for his proposals for both RFPs.

Thanks go out to Ken

Inspections required on large air tankers

Bill GabbertFebruary 8, 2012August 12, 2019Uncategorizedair tanker, Photo by Bill G8 Comments

Neptune’s P2V air tanker 45 on the Whoopup fire southeast of Newcastle, WY, July 18, 2011. Photo by Bill Gabbert

Update at 11:37 a.m. MT, February 9, 2012

The other ten P2Vs passed the inspections.

Update at 4:52 p.m. MT, February 8, 2012

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that requires inspections of P2V aircraft after a large crack was found in a wing spar and skin on one of Neptune Aviation’s P2V-7 air tankers. The EAD, intended for the owners and operators of Lockheed P2V aircraft, says the 24-inch crack propagated through the wing front spar web, lower chord, and wing lower skin. The FAA is requiring “a detailed inspection for cracks, working fasteners, and other anomalies, including surface damage in the form of a nick, gouge, or corrosion; and repairing if necessary.”

We talked with a spokesperson for the FAA who told us that their agency does not “ground” aircraft, however the Emergency Airworthiness Directive requires that inspections of the P2V air tankers be completed within one day of the operators receiving the notification. Then they must report to the FAA the findings, positive or negative, of the inspections.

We will update this article when we have more information.

This affects all of the large air tankers that are under a standard U.S. Forest Service exclusive use contract. All 11 of them are P2Vs — nine operated by Neptune and two by Minden. In 2002 there were 44 large air tankers on USFS contracts.

One additional air tanker not affected is the jet-powered BAe-146 which is being flown by Neptune under temporary “interim” approval from the Interagency Air Tanker Board. After a year of testing it was granted “interim” approval status last fall and is being considered for full approval. The last we heard it was out of service and undergoing a major scheduled maintenance at the Tronos facility on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Minden also has a BAe-146 under development and is hoping to have it flying over fires this fire season.

The USFS cancelled Aero Union’s contract for their eight P3 air tankers last summer, saying the company did not complete some required inspections. The P3 air tankers are not affected by this FAA directive, but Aero Union has closed their doors and is auctioning their air tankers and other assets this month.

The remaining USFS-contracted air tankers were scheduled to come on earlier than usual this year. One of Minden’s P2Vs is scheduled to start on February 15, and the agency asked Neptune to have their first aircraft mission-ready by February 26. Three more airtankers are scheduled to begin their Mandatory Availability Periods (MAP) in March (one Minden, two Neptune), two are scheduled to begin their MAPs in April, and four are scheduled to come on board in May.

Rick Hatton, the President and CEO of 10 Tanker Air Carrier was not offered an exclusive use contract for their two DC-10 Very Large Air Tankers by the U.S. Forest Service, and only has a call when needed contract with the agency. The DC-10s carry 11,600 gallons, about four times the capacity of a standard large air tanker. Mr. Hatton told Wildfire Today this morning:

We did some good work with the 10s in 2011 in 6 states plus Canada. With over 420 missions on over 70 fires, we are hopeful of being awarded a multiple aircraft contract in 2012. Two are ready for that, and we can add one every 6 months if contracted. The 10 can do the work of 4+ alternative aircraft, and can really fill a big part of the fleet needed now and in future years.

The USFS has put all of their eggs into one basket, with all 11 of their contracted air tankers being the same model, except for the BAe-146 which has interim approval. This is not the first time that all aircraft of the same model have been grounded. The agency could have seen this coming and should have been prepared. Since the two fatal crashes in 2002 which permanently grounded several models of ancient air tankers, the USFS has had 10 years to rebuild the aging fleet, but sat on their hands watching the fleet decay from 44 air tankers to 11, as they were hampered by indecision and analysis paralysis.

Have the chickens come home to roost? Maybe the 24-inch cracks found in the 50+ year old P2V can be easily fixed, and perhaps the other 10 P2Vs will get a clean bill of health — until the next crash or Emergency Airworthiness Directive. Or, the worst case scenario is that an analysis will determine that a weakness has been discovered that, for safety reasons, will permanently ground all P2V air tankers, reducing the fleet to one air tanker on “interim” approval status.

We all know that 50-60 year old aircraft are going to have more safety and maintenance issues than more modern aircraft. The USFS’ request for proposal for “next generation” turbine-powered air tankers is a step in the right direction, but we didn’t see anything in the RFP that required WHICH generation they belong to, or that they be, for example, less than 20 years old. Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the USFS told us today that they expect to award the first of these next-gen contracts in April of this year. In addition, Ms. Jones told us:

Until we are notified otherwise by the vendors, we expect the [P2V] airtankers to be available at the start of their mandatory availability periods. The U.S. Forest Service is committed to modernizing the Large Airtanker Fleet. The agency is currently developing a strategy to improve and modernize the fleet.

The Hawkins and Powers C-130A air tanker that crashed on June 17, 2002 near Walker, California when the wings fell off, had a series of fatigue cracks in the skin panel of the right wing which grew together to become 12-inches long and were found to have propagated past the area where they would have been covered by the doubler and into the stringers beneath the doubler and across the lap joint between the middle skin panel and the forward skin panel.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: