Tag: T-105

Above: One of Erickson Aero Tanker’s MD-87’s, Tanker 105, makes a drop on the Whittier Fire northwest of Goleta, California. Santa Barbara County Fire Department photo.

Originally published at 11 p.m. MDT July 13, 2017

We have not seen the MD-87 air tankers over fires for a while, but the photo above and the video below were posted on Twitter July 13, 2017 by Mike Eliason of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

As we reported in March, we talked with Kevin McLoughlin, the Director of Air Tanker Operations for Erickson Aero Tanker, who told us that they have fixed the problem with their recently converted MD-87 air tankers and expect to have five of them available this summer. Two are on exclusive use contracts and they hope to have the others on call when needed contracts. The issue involved retardant dispersing over the wing which left open the possibility of it being ingested into the engines. They had an external tank, or pod, fabricated and installed below the retardant tank doors, which lowers the release point by 46 inches, mitigating the problem, Mr. McLoughlin said. In November the aircraft took and passed the grid test again, certifying it for coverage levels one through eight.

Check out the video below of a drop on the Whittier Fire northwest of Goleta, California.

#WhittierFire– An Erickson MD-87 makes a phoschek drop above Dos Pueblos Canyon below West Camino Cielo. pic.twitter.com/vuj8g7hLUR

— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) July 13, 2017

In September of 2015 an Erickson MD-87 experienced an engine failure after departing from Fresno Airport. Pieces of the engine fell into a residential neighborhood, with at least one fragment shattering the rear window in a car. The aircraft returned to the airport.