It was just two days ago that we wrote an article about air tankers, covering CAL FIRE’s new policy of restricting the use of their S-2s on federal fires and the deteriorated state of the federal air tanker fleet. But yesterday, August 27, there were two significant developments related to air tankers.
CL-215s at San Bernardino
On August 26 late in the afternoon three CL-215s showed up at the San Bernardino airport. They are operated by Aero-Flite, Inc. out of Kingman, Arizona and are working on a federal contract. The company owns operates five CL-215s that have been used in Alaska, Minnesota, and by the Bureau of Land Management. They have already been used on two fires on the San Bernardino National Forest, the Mile and Oasis Fires, refilling at Big Bear Lake.
Tanker 262 at Aero-Flite in Kingman, Arizona. Photo: Aero-Flite
These CL-215s can scoop up to 1,400 gallons of water from from approved lakes and have the capability of mixing foam concentrate with the water while in flight, making it possible to drop Class A foam on the fire. The aircraft can also be filled with water while parked at an airport.
The primary differences between a CL-215 and CL-415 is that the latter has turbine engines, can hold about 200 more gallons, and has aerodynamic additions to the wings and empennage, or tail assembly.
DC-10 activated by the U. S. Forest Service
Almost two months after awarding a Call When Needed contract to 10 Tanker Air Carrier for their DC-10 air tankers, the USFS activated one of the Very Large Air Tankers yesterday. Tanker 910 arrived at McClellan Airport near Sacramento, California at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and was dispatched to a fire near the Utah/Arizona border at 10:30 am. It made two trips and nine drops. Today it is being used on the Motor fire just outside the El Portal entrance to Yosemite National Park.
Television show about CL-215s
Has anyone else seen the show on the National Geographic Channel called Ice Pilots? It is a reality show about a company in northwest Canada that operates mostly vintage aircraft, including two CL-215s, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, a DC-3, a C-46, and a DC-4. There was a series of shows in which the company had sold the two CL-215s to the Turkish government and were attempting to deliver them to the buyer, flying them across Canada, the north Atlantic, and Europe.
One complicating factor was the lack of any deicing equipment on the air tankers, something they don’t usually need while working on wildfires. Another was having enough fuel to make it across the Atlantic, so the company was carrying flexible fuel bladders inside the aircraft to increase their range.
During the last episode I saw a few months ago the two CL-215s had made it to the east coast of Canada and were waiting for warm weather over the north Atlantic to begin the ocean crossing.
A P3 air tanker on the Las Conchas fire in New Mexico, July 15, 2011. All contracts for P3's were cancelled by the USFS in late July and the company, Aero Union, has been forced out of business. Photo by Kari Greer for the USFS
Responding perhaps to the U. S. Forest Service’s reduction of the large air tanker fleet from 44 in 2002 to the 14 that are on exclusive use contracts today, CAL FIRE has distributed a memo laying out in no uncertain terms a policy stating that their agency will put strict limits on the use of the state’s air tankers on federal fires.
If a federal incident requires “load and return” of CAL FIRE airtankers or additional CAL FIRE air tankers are ordered for the incident, the Federal GACC will order federal air tankers(s) from the other California GACC or through NICC as appropriate to replace CAL FIRE IA air tankers. CAL FIRE airtankers should NOT be considered as a replacement for federal aircraft on extended attack or major Federal incidents in California.
and:
The Region Duty Chief shall revisit the use of CAL FIRE air tankers on federal incidents with his/her federal Duty Chief counterpart at least every hour throughout the incident.
CAL FIRE seems to have understandably lost their patience with the lack of initiative and heads in the sand approach the USFS and the other federal land management agencies have adopted in managing the federal air tanker fleet for the last nine years. The federal land management agencies have been irresponsible and have mismanaged the federal fleet. They have taken advantage of CAL FIRE’s resources, while not pulling their own weight, at least in California.
Since the wings fell off two very old military surplus air tankers in 2002 requiring the grounding of over half the fleet, the U. S. Forest Service has commissioned several studies of how to reconstitute the air tanker program.
The USFS has been studying the issue of replacing the fleet of large air tankers since the “Blue Ribbon Panel”, chaired by former NTSB Chairman James E. Hall, evaluated the air tanker program following the two crashes in 2002 in which the wings fell off very old military surplus aircraft, killing five people. Those crashes resulted in the permanent grounding of about 60 percent of the large air tankers, from 44 in 2002 to the 18 or so we have today.
Now there is still another study going on, this time by the Rand Corporation. It was due in January, 2011, but even Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-California, has had difficulty finding out anything about it. Last week, according to a newspaper article, Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of Agriculture, responding three months after her inquiry, said the report would not be completed until August. Will this report simply sit on a shelf next to the last one, or will the USFS actually do something this time?
In the next 10 years more than half of our large air tankers will need to be replaced and we are studying the options and will be making a recommendation to you by the end of the summer.
Well, the latest study is already eight months overdue, but we have been told now it will show up by “August” and by “summer”. Really. They want us to believe them this time. Really. Both August and summer are almost over. These decisions about managing the air tanker fleet should have been made eight years ago. Eight years ago.
We don’t have an adequate number of air tankers for average wildfire conditions. If the predictions for dry lightning across the northwest through this weekend are accurate, that will become even more obvious.
While the overdue study still has not been released, the USFS issued a Request for Information (RFI) on August 3 asking about vendors’ potential interest in supplying “two to eight fixed wing water scooper aircraft”. This may or may not result in any contracts for air tankers:
This RFI is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as an RFP or as a decision or obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services.
Making decisions is hard, huh?
On June 5, 2011 the U. S. Forest Service awarded a Call When Needed contract for 10 Tanker Air Carrier’s DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker, with no guarantee of flight hours or daily availability. CAL FIRE also has a CWN contract for the DC-10’s.
Today I took take a few photos at a grass fire south of Hot Springs, South Dakota, near Angostura Reservoir. Fire departments from Hot Springs, Oelrichs, and Mennekahta responded and had it knocked down pretty quickly.
An engine and water tender from Oelrichs FD
Returning to Hot Springs, I stopped by the air tanker base at Hot Springs Municipal Airport. Hot Springs is one of five Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT) bases in or near South Dakota. The others are at Pierre, Buffalo, Lemon, Rapid City (which can also handle large air tankers), and Newcastle, Wyoming. Hot Springs is the main SEAT base and is the only one continuously staffed, and is open June through October.
As far as I know, no air tankers were dispatched to the fire near Angostura Reservoir pictured above. Today Tanker 466 was working out of the base and reloaded numerous times as it worked the Sheep Wagon fire (BKF-622) about 10 miles southeast of Newcastle, WY. The aircraft is operated by Taylor Aviation out of Fort Benton, Montana. South Dakota has one SEAT on exclusive use contract this year but has several others available on Call When Needed (CWN) agreements.
A P-3 Orion drops on the Station fire Aug. 30, 2009 near Acton, California. Photo: Dan Steinberg
ChicoER.com is reporting that one of the three primary suppliers of air tankers has closed their doors, telling their employees they no longer have jobs, and to pick up their last checks this week. Aero Union, which earlier this year had eight large P-3 air tankers on exclusive use contracts with the U.S. Forest Service for wildland fire suppression, had their contracts for the last six P-3’s cancelled at the end of July due to their failure to participate in a continued airworthiness program.
The demise of Aero Union left 11 large air tankers, P2V’s supplied by Neptune and Minden, on exclusive use contracts with the USFS, compared to 44 in 2002. After the agency cancelled the Aero Union contract a few weeks ago, saying “we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season”, they brought on three Convair 580 air tankers to attempt to fill the void, bringing the total up to 14.
A Conair ground crewperson attaches a hose to the tank of a Lockheed L-188 Electra airtanker at their base in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Photo: Andy Clark.
Conair, a Canadian company that currently has 12 large air tankers and 3 Canadair CL-215’s, has introduced a new system for delivering water or fire retardant from the tank of a Lockheed L-188 Electra. The constant-flow system, developed in cooperation with British Columbia’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, has the following features:
12,490 Litre (3,300 US Gallon) capacity Retardant Delivery System;
Efficient lower volume, higher coverage level application of retardants for improved lightning strike fire containment and effectiveness;
Increased capability for higher coverage level application of retardants through dense forest canopies;
Increased capability and efficiency for more uniform line building qualities;
Incorporates new retardant delivery system data tracking capability allowing real time access to all aspects of the drop events – information is transmitted via satellite downlink.
Here is a video, uploaded July 26, 2011, that I believe is a demonstration of the new system. The formatting is very strange, but check out the length of the drop. It must be a very light coverage level.
Conair, according to their web site, has 10 Convair CV-580 air tankers, a twin-engine aircraft, but they only have one four-piston-engine L-188 Electra, which was produced from 1957 until 1961.
The air frame of the L-188 was used as the basis for the Lockheed P-3 Orion. Six of Aero Union’s P-3 air tankers were shut down a few days ago when the U.S. Forest Service cancelled their contract due to the company’s inadequate participation in a continued airworthiness program, which included a Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Evaluation and structural inspection program. This leaves 11 large air tankers on federal exclusive use contracts in the United States, compared to the 44 that were on contract in 2002 and the 19 that were on contract earlier this summer. But not to worry. Tom Harbour, director of the Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management program said, “This contract termination notwithstanding, we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season.”
Three Convair CV-580 air tankers are currently in Boise jumping through the contracting hoops. If everything is approved, this would bring the total number of large air tankers on exclusive use contracts up to 14. If the predicted wildfire potential for August through November turns out to be correct, 14 may be adequate. If the fire occurrence in August and September turns out to be average, all bets are off.
P-3 Orion, making a low drop on a fire near Cedar City, Utah, in 2006. From zionhelitack.blogspot.com
The U. S. Forest Service has cancelled their contract for six large air tankers. Due to Aero Union “failing to meet its contractual obligations” their P-3 air tankers are no longer available for wildfires. In April, 2011 the company had eight P-3 air tankers that were grounded for a few days because of “issues found during aircraft inspection on one of the P-3s”. Since then it appears that two of their eight P-3’s were removed from the contract, leaving the six that today’s announcement said are now off contract as well. The air tankers that are now out of service are T-17, T-21, T-22, T-23, T-27 and T-00.
This leaves 11 large air tankers remaining on exclusive use contracts, all P2V’s. With all of the eggs now in the same basket, if a problem is found that grounds all P2V’s, we are down to zero air tankers under federal exclusive use contracts. Contrast that with the 44 that were on contract in 2002. Nine of the eleven remaining P2V’s are operated by Neptune out of Missoula, MT. Minden Air out of Minden, NV has two P2V’s under contract.
The USFS has refused to put the very large air tankers (VLAT) under exclusive use contracts, and only offered call when needed (CWN) contracts, with no minimum hour or day guarantee, for the DC-10’s and the 747, operated by 10 Tanker Air Carrier and Evergreen. 10 Tanker reluctantly signed the CWN contract with the USFS, but Evergreen did not. As we wrote only yesterday, both companies have told Wildfire Today that they will have difficulty continuing to operate their very large air tankers if they are only occasionally used on fires. They are large, complex, single-purpose aircraft and can’t be diverted like helicopters can, to other uses such as law enforcement or news. CalFire’s CWN contract for the DC-10’s specifies a 5-day minimum.
To summarize, the USFS now has only 11 large air tankers under exclusive use contracts, 33 fewer than we had in 2002. The two DC-10’s are under a CWN contract.
We have ranted on several occasions about the sad state of the aging air tanker fleet. It has been nine years since two very old military surplus air tankers literally fell apart in mid air in 2002, killing five crew members, prompting the permanent grounding of about 57% of the ancient large air tankers. You would think that the US Forest Service and the other federal land management agencies would have immediately taken steps to reconstitute the large air tanker fleet. Well they did take steps, but not enough to lead to any action other than commissioning study after study. The issue has been studied to death. It is long past time to make a damn decision and do something. SOMETHING!
The last study that was commissioned was due in January, 2011, but the Rand Corporation did not deliver it on time. Now it is expected in August, and we’ll see if it spurs action, or if like the others, it collects dust on a shelf.
Most firefighters, and especially higher level fire managers, are genetically programmed to evaluate facts and to be decisive. This appalling situation leads me to believe that firefighters are not a significant part of this decision making process.
Analysis Paralysis is the total inability to reach a decision. Found often in the business and corporate setting. Usually a condition caused by nit picking managers and owners. The primary source is management/owner requests for more information, reports, studies, statistics, evaluations, opinion, and research on a subject. All of this requested research and study is accompanied by endless, mindless, discussions in multiple meetings regarding the subject and the compiled information. The end result is no decision is made because the efforts placed to garner information and hold endless meetings and discussions are viewed as progress on the subject matter.
Hey did management ever decide if we were going to get extra donuts on donut day? Are you kidding me? They spent $2,000 on a cost analysis, accounting is still crunching cost figures and they have been discussing it for 9 months. It is in the company’s usual state of total analysis paralysis.
At the Aerial Firefighting Conference held in Washington, DC last May, Frank Gladics, professional staff member with the U.S. Senate energy and natural resources committee, addressed the report that some in the USFS would like to replace the aging fleet of large air tankers with 20 to 30 C-130Js at a cost of $80 to $85 million each. Gladics said funding is not available for such a massive purchase, and…
We need a more diverse fleet. . . . Go back and look at alternate aircraft, including water-scooping aircraft. Our forests, the resources and communities can’t wait another 10 years while you wait for the existing fleet to become inoperable in hopes Congress will be forced to buy you that Ferrari you want.
US Forest Service Cancels Airtanker Contract with Aero Union
California company did not meet agency’s safety standards
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2011–The U.S. Forest Service announced today that it has terminated its contract with Aero Union of Sacramento, Calif., because the company failed to meet its contractual obligations. The company was providing six airtankers under exclusive-use contracts to the Forest Service.
“Our main priority is protecting and saving lives, and we can’t in good conscience maintain an aviation contract where we feel lives may be put at risk due to inadequate safety practices” said Tom Harbour, director of the Forest Service’s Fire and Aviation Management program. “This contract termination notwithstanding, we possess the aircraft support needed for this year’s fire season.”
The Forest Service has access to additional aviation assets to meet operational needs. Two other private companies provide 11 large airtankers under exclusive-use contracts. In addition, there are two very large airtankers available through a “call when needed” contract, as well as eight military firefighting aircraft.
The five-year contract the Forest Service signed with Aero Union in 2008 required participation in a continued airworthiness program, which included a Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Evaluation and structural inspection program. In April 2011, Aero Union informed the Forest Service that the Federal Aviation Administration found the company was not in compliance with its mandated structural inspection program requirements.
More information about the aging air tanker fleet on Wildfire Today:
