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.
More from the Missoulian:
Nevada-based Minden Air Corp. provides two more P2-Vs for Forest Service firefighting. In a statement, Minden CEO Leonard Parker said none of his planes were affected, and the company expected to have its first P2-V available for Forest Service action on Feb. 15.
This incident pointed out that since all eleven of the air tankers on U.S. Forest Service standard exclusive use contracts are the same model, P2V, a safety issue has the potential to ground the entire fleet of USFS large air tankers. One additional air tanker not affected is the jet-powered BAe-146 which is being operated by Neptune under a 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 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.
Ollas remaining after a fire that destroyed huts in Napak in northern Uganda. Photo: Steven Ariong
I was surprised when I saw this photo of what was left after 32 grass-thatched houses burned in a wildfire in the northern Ugandan village of Napak. According to a report, the fire may have been started by locals who were hunting for rats. Among the debris and ashes, you can see quite a few ollas, large clay pots. Ancient people used these hundreds or thousands of years ago for storing water. They have a narrow neck to reduce evaporation.
I found it interesting that ollas are still being used today. If I wanted something in which to store several gallons of water I would simply go to a discount store and buy a plastic jerry can, but that may not be feasible for the folks that live in northern Uganda.
It was also interesting to me because I discovered two ollas in nearly mint condition that had been sitting around for hundreds of years.
It happened on April 25, 1989 when I was working as a wildland engine captain on the Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego. During the winter there were few wildland fires, and those of us that were not furloughed during the off-season usually found a special project to work on. The weather in San Diego County in the winter is mild, except in the higher elevations in the Laguna Mountains, so I volunteered to attend paraprofessional archaeologist training. After becoming qualified, it got me out of the office for weeks at a time, doing archaeology surveys in areas where we planned to conduct prescribed fires.
Another firefighter, Dave Volgarino, went through the training with me, and we did the surveys together, hiking cross country all day in very remote areas, busting through brush recording any native American sites or artifacts that we found, which were mostly left there by the Kumeyaay people. The most exciting stuff that we ran across were one or two arrow heads, mortar or grinding depressions in boulders, flakes where ancient people made projectile points, and very rarely some broken pieces of ollas or pottery.
Until…one day Dave and I were surveying in an area that looked like a pretty good place for camping.
The potential camping spot. USFS photo by Bill Gabbert.
It was a flat area under some oak trees about 1/10 acre in size adjacent to a seasonal creek. I was hiking through brush on the hill above the creek looking for any signs of ancient people and saw a rock overhang behind a chamise bush.
The hillside where Bill Gabbert was searching. USFS photo by Bill Gabbert
The Jasper fire, about 2 hours after it started on August 25, 2000. Photo by Bill Gabbert
Joe Lowe, the Director (or Fire Chief) of the South Dakota Division of Wildland Fire Suppression retired on Monday. Joe was the first and so far the only Director of the agency that was formed in 2001. Before accepting that position, he worked in wildland fire suppression in southern California.
During most of the decade of the 1990s, there were few large fires in South Dakota. That began changing in August of 2000 when the Flagpole and Jasper fires burned 7,000 and 83,000 acres respectively in the Black Hills. Then-Governor Bill Janklow, who died of brain cancer on January 12, became extremely interested in wildfire suppression at that time.
I was the Incident Commander on the Flagpole fire for the first two days and received two late night phone calls from the Governor telling me he was sending resources to the fire, including 17 dozers and dozens of fire engines from across the state that later just showed up on the fireline. This was outside of the ordering system and the Incident Command System, and created havoc and safety issues on the fire. The Governor also directed that National Guard dozers take independent action on the Jasper fire, and threatened to start backfires without coordinating with the Type 1 Incident Management Team running the fire. The Incident Commander placed a resource order for U.S. Marshals who stood by at the Incident Command Post ready to put a halt to any actions that put firefighters in danger.
The next year, the Governor created the Division of Wildland Fire Suppression and put Joe in charge. Joe’s experience, management skills, and the fact that the Governor trusted him established a buffer between the Governor and the other wildfire organizations in the state — and we heard a collective sigh of relief. Joe brought additional professionalism and the concept of initially attacking fires with “overwhelming force” to the Division.
During his 10 years as the state Fire Chief, Joe, working with his interagency partners, helped establish the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center, the Great Plains Interstate Compact, the State Handcrew Program, the State Aerial Firefighting Program, and the Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team C.
Steve Hasenohrl, Assistant Chief for Administration, is the Acting Director until Joe’s replacement is named.
I tried to get in touch with Joe today, calling his gallery, Reflections of South Dakota, but he was out doing a television interview and setting up the gallery’s booth at the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo which begins January 27. Joe has been an avid photographer for years, and opened the gallery with his wife Wendy in May of 2007.
His plans are to remain in the Rapid City area and to be available for assignments on large fires.
Joe Lowe at the opening of his Gallery in Rapid City, May 4, 2007. Photo by Bill Gabbert
The new Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center. Photo by Bill Gabbert
The Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Dispatch Center was evicted from their facility at the Rapid City Regional Airport. On January 9 they became operational in a brand new building located south of Rapid City adjacent to the new Black Hills National Forest Mystic Ranger District office at 8123 South Highway 16, Rapid City, SD 57702.
During most of the decade of the 1990s, there were few large fires in the Northern Great Plains area, which includes western South Dakota, northeast Wyoming, and northwest Nebraska. Then there were several large fires in 2000 and 2001 which demonstrated the need for a coordinated dispatch center in an area where previously each land management agency handled their own dispatching. Then-Governor Bill Jankow, who died January 12 of brain cancer, was instrumental in finding the location and funding for what became the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center (NGPIDC). Most of the $1.8 million in funds to retrofit the old unused passenger terminal at the airport came from the State of South Dakota. The first 3-year lease for the building was signed in 2001 and after gutting the interior, building new walls and offices, and installing communications systems and a backup generator, it was put into service in 2003.
The FAA, which has a great deal of control over how land and facilities are used at airports, began complaining soon after the NGPIDC moved in, saying they were not aware until then that there was a new tenant at the airport. The lease was extended for another 3 years in 2004, but in 2006 the FAA sent an eviction letter claiming that the space was needed for hangars and other aeronautical uses. The airport and the NGPIDC argued the case that the dispatch center needed to remain, but the writing was on the wall and fire managers and government officials began looking around for alternatives.
In 2009 the U.S. Congress earmarked approximately $2 million for a new facility, thanks to support from Senators John Thune and Tim Johnson, and Representative Stephanie Herseth as well as some elected officials in Wyoming. Groundbreaking occurred in October of 2010, the building was complete in December of 2011, and the move-in process began. The new building has space for several offices, consoles for approximately a half-dozen dispatchers, and a large room which can be used for expanded dispatch during major emergency incidents, or for training during the off-season.
The agencies that are served by the NGPIDC include: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, South Dakota State Wildland Fire Suppression Division, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Wyoming Forestry Division, and the Nebraska Forest Service.
The new phone numbers at the NGPIDC are 605-716-2738, 800-275-4955, and Fax 605-343-5075.
The South Dakota State Wildland Fire Suppression Division has offices for several of their employees in the dispatch center at the airport which will have to be moved before the airport bulldozes the building. The last I heard they were still uncertain about their new location.
I stopped by to check out the new facility on Wednesday, and Sheri Fox, Center Manager, was kind enough to let me take some photos. It turned out that a Fire Science class from Western Dakota Tech was just beginning a tour, so I tagged along.
Tanker 45 makes a retardant drop on the Whoopup fire near Newcastle, WY, July 18, 2011. Photo by Bill Gabbert
On Tuesday U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell signed off on a decision that establishes new policies for the use of aerial fire retardant when fighting wildfires on U.S. Forest Service lands. Tidwell chose one of three alternatives in the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that studied the use of retardant and how it affects water resources and certain plant and wildlife species. The new policy puts buffer zones around waterways and habitat for some threatened, endangered, and sensitive species in order to avoid applying retardant in those areas.
This will result in approximately 30 percent of USFS lands being off limits for retardant while fighting fire. There is an exception if human life or public safety is threatened.
The EIS was written in response to a July, 2010 decision by U. S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy in a lawsuit filed in 2008 by the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. The agency began soliciting public input on the EIS in May of last year.
Now firefighters and Air Tactical Group Supervisors will have roughly 12,000 maps identifying avoidance areas on 98 National Forest System units that identify locations of waterways and areas for hundreds of plant and animal species. Professional liability insurance anyone?
