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Tag: air tanker

Update on MAFFS air tanker crash

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , , 8 Comments on Update on MAFFS air tanker crash
MAFFS 7, air tanker, MAFFS, crash,
MAFFS 7 departs North Carolina June 30, 2012 for Peterson AFB. Photo by Tech Sgt Brian Christiansen

The United States Northern Command and the U.S. Forest Service have released more information about yesterday’s South Dakota crash of a C-130 aircraft outfitted with a Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS), enabling it to function as an air tanker.

The USFS said there were two survivors and four fatalities. Yesterday Black Hills FOX News reported that the two survivors were picked up by helicopter from the crash site and flown to the Custer airport. From there one was flown by a life flight helicopter to a hospital in Rapid City and the other went by ground ambulance to the hospital.

The C-130 was identified as MAFFS #7 from the North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing based at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and was working on the White Draw Fire about five miles northeast of Edgemont in the southwest corner of South Dakota. The accident, which occurred at 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. MT, is, of course, being investigated, and the cause has not been released, but the USFS provided some information:

A BLM ASM [Aerial Supervision Module] platform was also engaged as a lead [plane] with the C130 when the accident occurred. The ASM/Lead experienced a severe downdraft while approaching the intended retardant drop zone with the C130 in trail. This is being investigated by the USFS as a separate Incident With Potential.

As sometimes happens after an aircraft accident, the remaining seven MAFFS-equipped C-130s are on an operational hold. The fleet will spend the day to get the MAFFS crews together to “reflect, reset and review,” said Col. Jerry Champlin, 153rd Air Expeditionary Group commander. “We all need to make sure our crews and planes will be ready to re-engage in the mission safely,” he added.

I searched some air tanker accident files, and was not able to find any record of fatal crashes of military-operated MAFFS air tankers, which were created after the record-breaking 1970 fire season.

The White Draw fire has burned 4,200 acres and is 30% contained. Monday morning there was so much wildfire smoke over a large portion of southwest South Dakota that two CV-580 air tankers on loan from Canada were not able to execute a request to drop retardant on the Parker Peak fire, a new fire about two miles east of the White Draw fire. They had to return to Rapid City and jettison the retardant before landing.

On Sunday, in addition to dropping on the White Draw fire, MAFFS air tankers were also working on the Oil Creek fire near Newcastle, WY, 39 miles northwest of the White Draw fire.

MAFFS #7 was one of four MAFFS ships scheduled to relocate on Monday from Peterson Air Force base at Colorado Springs to Wyoming Air National Guard’s base in Cheyenne, in order to reduce the turn-around time for reloading with retardant while working the fires in Wyoming and South Dakota.

The video below shows some of the operations at the Custer airport related to the accident.

(The video is no longer available.)

The one-minute video below includes Black Hills Fox’s Sunday night coverage of the crash.

(The video is no longer available.)

Our sincere condolences go out to the families and other members of the North Carolina Air National Guard.

C-130 MAFFS air tanker goes down in South Dakota

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , , 18 Comments on C-130 MAFFS air tanker goes down in South Dakota
MAFFS C-130 air tanker
A MAFFS C-130 air tanker at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs,  June 27, 2012. Photo by Staff Sgt Stephany Richards

(We have updated information on the incident HERE, July 2, 2012.)

A C-130 military air tanker air tanker *”went down” in South Dakota late Sunday afternoon. Fox News and the Rapid City Journal are reporting that two or three survived — reports differ about the number. The incident was confirmed by Pat Cross, a spokesperson for the Incident Management Team assigned to the White Draw fire northeast of Edgemont, South Dakota. It is believed that the air tanker had been working on that fire.

A helicopter was able to land near the site and fly the injured crewmembers to Custer. From there they were transported to Rapid City Regional Hospital for further medical treatment, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The C-130 usually carries a crew of six. The additional members of the crew are unaccounted for.

The aircraft was outfitted with a Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) in the cargo hold which enables it to operate as an air tanker, carrying up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant. It was one of eight that have been activated over the last week to help suppress the numerous fires in the western United States.

*(Note: we used the term “went down” because that or “gone down” is the phrase that was used in the early reports, including those from the Fall River County Sheriff’s Office and the Great Plains Dispatch Center in Rapid City. We don’t know the circumstances, and there is a report that it occurred several miles from the White Draw fire.)

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We want to thank the numerous people who reported this to us in comments on other articles and directly over the phone. This notice would have gone up sooner, but we were out in the field covering the Highland and Oil Creek fires.

Four additional military MAFFS air tankers activated

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 2 Comments on Four additional military MAFFS air tankers activated
MAFFS air tanker dropping on Waldo Canyon Fire
MAFFS air tanker dropping on Waldo Canyon Fire June 28, 2012. Photo by Staff Sgt Stephany Richards USAF

The U.S. Forest Service has activated an additional four Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) air tankers. These military C-130s should be operational by 6 p.m. Saturday and are from the North Carolina Air National Guard and the California Air National Guard. They will be working out of Peterson Air Force base in Colorado Springs, Colorado along with the other four MAFFS air tankers that were activated June 24.

This brings the number of large air tankers on active duty right now to 22, plus one very large air tanker:

Airtankers

  • 9 on Exclusive Use contracts (8 P2Vs and 1 BAe-146)
  • 5 CV-580s borrowed temporarily through agreements with the State of Alaska and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre
  • 8 MAFFS

Very Large Airtankers

  • 1 DC 10 on a call when needed contract

Since June 25 the four MAFFS aircraft operating out of Colorado Springs have conducted 62 sorties, made 53 air drops, and dropped 138,400 gallons of retardant on fires in the area, most of them on the Waldo Canyon fire which has burned 348 homes and killed at least one person.

Jennifer Jones, a spokesperson for the USFS, said today that there are still an additional three CV-580 air tankers available that they could borrow from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Evergreen speculates that small business contracting requirements prevented the use of their Supertanker

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 7 Comments on Evergreen speculates that small business contracting requirements prevented the use of their Supertanker
747 air tanker dropping during a test in Arizona
747 air tanker dropping during a test in Arizona. Evergreen photo.

Evergreen International Aviation, the company that built the 20,000-gallon air tanker, or “Supertanker” as they call it, has released a statement that attempts to answer some of the many questions they have received asking why the U.S. Forest Service refuses to use the 747 air tanker, which carries about 10 times more than a P2V. The company says they have never received an explanation from the USFS, but speculates that contracting requirements favoring small businesses may be the reason.

The USFS only offered the two companies with Very Large Air Tankers call when needed contracts, not exclusive use contracts. Without any guaranteed income, Evergreen turned the offer down, while 10 Tanker Air Carrier is struggling to remain in business after accepting a CWN contract for one of their two DC-10 air tankers, which is used only rarely by the USFS.

Below is the text of Evergreen’s statement:

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Date: 6/29/12

Evergreen International Aviation Statement Concerning the Supertanker

We felt compelled to release this statement due to the overwhelming amount of calls we have received concerning the availability of the Evergreen Supertanker. We at Evergreen are saddened by the fire devastation now taking place in many Western US states. For over 60 years, we have supported the US Forest Service in its important mission to battle and control fires, and it is our desire to continue this rich history of service. While our helicopters continue to work fires for the State of Alaska under State contracts, unfortunately, our Boeing 747 Supertanker Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) aircraft awaits activation with the US Forest Service.

We have never been told why we have not been activated by the US Forest Service, so we can only speculate as to why we face this outcome:

1. We were offered a Call-When-Needed (CWN) contract a few years ago by the US ForestService (proving our technical viability), but we were never called into action resulting in a multi-million dollar loss to our company as we were required to maintain and have flight crew available should we be called. The only contact that will sustain a VLAT program is an Exclusive-Use contract, which provides an income stream to sustain the program even if the asset is not utilized. We invested over $50M to develop this asset in the firm belief that we could better control fires as we proved in Israel and Mexico under CWN contracts that we could afford to offer at the time.

2. There have been recent changes to the US Forest Service procurement policies. Today,only small businesses are eligible for contract awards concerning airtanker assets; Evergreen is not a small business and, therefore, is excluded from consideration for any award.

3. The US Forest Service’s specification for Next Generation Air Tanker aircraft limits tanksize to 5,000 gallons. The Supertanker’s tanks hold about 20,000 gallons, which is considered outside the USFS specification. The USFS just awarded contracts to four small businesses with aircraft equipped with these smaller tanks, and excluded the Evergreen Supertanker. Since World War II, tank capacities have been in the 3,000 to 5,000 gallon range, yet continue to face the growing threat from mega fires today. We believe the Supertanker represents an overwhelming response to this growing threat.

Please contact your state representatives in Washington DC to demand an examination of their current procurement policies concerning VLAT aircraft. The US Forest Service says it best: “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”

Evergreen International Aviation, Inc., Tel: 503.472.9361

(end of statement)

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Thanks go out to Hsaive

How to install a MAFFS II in a C-130J

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 6 Comments on How to install a MAFFS II in a C-130J

OK, it’s not exactly a training film, but this 5-minute raw video can give you an idea of what it takes to install a Modular Airborne FireFighting System (MAFFS) in a military C-130J. The military air tankers can help provide additional air tanker support for wildfires if all of the contracted large air tankers are committed.

The video was shot Sunday June 23, 2012 at the 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard, in Cheyenne, Wyoming as crews prepared two C-130 aircraft for missions in the Rocky Mountain Geographic Area.

Four of the aircraft became operational at Pueblo air tanker base on Monday and performed three drops on the Waldo Canyon fire since the first midday launch. As of 5:20 p.m. MT they were on hold due to poor visibility at the fire.

 

Thanks go out to Dick