UAFA cautions USFS about retardant tested last year
Kelly Andersson
9 Comments
Eric Malofsky
Even the Phos-Chek foam that we use in the CL-215 and CL-415 as an additive to the water is insanely corrosive. We cannot use aluminum fittings on any of the system plumbing — it will dissolve them after only a few years. Any spillage in or onto the airplane must be flushed exhaustively or the aircraft will experience severe corrosion damage.
Believe it or not, Olav, the Forest Service got the two companies to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) so they can’t talk about this to anyone. A couple of pilots last summer, however, told me it was Erickson Aero Tanker and Neptune. I recently asked someone with UAFA which two tankers were damaged and he wouldn’t say, citing the NDA. For some reason the USFS considers this a big secret.
IMHO the USFS may have farked this up. They long ago eliminated borate because it was a soil sterilant (remember the term “borate bomber” ??) The agency was told numerous times about the corrosive properties of road salt — ever driven on the highways of Illinois in winter? The aviation management people ignored studies on this, along with the FAA Circulars that disapproved the use of mag chloride at airports. And they continue to ignore the phytotoxic nature of the mag chloride: It absolutely kills plants — kind of like borate. (No word from Andy Stahl yet, who’s for years made a good living suing the Forest Service.)
The corrosion identified over the winter launched a safety assessment by the NTSB and the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), which has been interested in retardants and firefighter health since at least 2009.
Fortress North America back in 2022 was the first company in a couple decades to get its long-term retardants added to the USFS list. Their retardants passed the agency testing and the USFS a year ago awarded them a contract for the season.
Just recently though, the need for a reassessment came to light.
I have no idea why, Olav. Usually when a company or an individual requests or requires an NDA it’s because they want to take credit for something good that they didn’t do, like when a book “author” pays a ghostwriter for ghostwriting services but wants his own name on the book. Pretty sure this is not the USFS taking credit for something good they didn’t do. I think it’s more like if you ever want another federal contract you will agree to shut up. If that’s wrong then I’d LOVE TO HEAR IT from someone with the USFS — but I’ll bet money we won’t.
“Is the USFS covering the repair costs?”
Well, that could be part of the reason for the NDA.
Tanker 02 from Neptune and Tanker 106 from Erickson were the 2 tankers involved in the Integrated Operational Field Evaluation (IOFE). Not sure why the companies won’t admit that they were flying for IOFE, there are tons of photos of both aircraft clearly dropping Fortress FR200.
Here’s one from Steve Whitby:
Yes that’s BAe-146 Tanker 02. This was the last fire I was at in 2023; the drop was in a little valley east of Hwy 371 south of Anza a couple of miles north of Lower Hwy 79 near Aguanga off Jojoba Road.
9 Comments
Even the Phos-Chek foam that we use in the CL-215 and CL-415 as an additive to the water is insanely corrosive. We cannot use aluminum fittings on any of the system plumbing — it will dissolve them after only a few years. Any spillage in or onto the airplane must be flushed exhaustively or the aircraft will experience severe corrosion damage.
What tankers were damaged?
Believe it or not, Olav, the Forest Service got the two companies to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) so they can’t talk about this to anyone. A couple of pilots last summer, however, told me it was Erickson Aero Tanker and Neptune. I recently asked someone with UAFA which two tankers were damaged and he wouldn’t say, citing the NDA. For some reason the USFS considers this a big secret.
IMHO the USFS may have farked this up. They long ago eliminated borate because it was a soil sterilant (remember the term “borate bomber” ??) The agency was told numerous times about the corrosive properties of road salt — ever driven on the highways of Illinois in winter? The aviation management people ignored studies on this, along with the FAA Circulars that disapproved the use of mag chloride at airports. And they continue to ignore the phytotoxic nature of the mag chloride: It absolutely kills plants — kind of like borate. (No word from Andy Stahl yet, who’s for years made a good living suing the Forest Service.)
The corrosion identified over the winter launched a safety assessment by the NTSB and the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), which has been interested in retardants and firefighter health since at least 2009.
Fortress North America back in 2022 was the first company in a couple decades to get its long-term retardants added to the USFS list. Their retardants passed the agency testing and the USFS a year ago awarded them a contract for the season.
Just recently though, the need for a reassessment came to light.
See Iain Hoey’s article for more: Fire & Safety Journal
Why a NDA?
Is the USFS covering the repair costs?
I have no idea why, Olav. Usually when a company or an individual requests or requires an NDA it’s because they want to take credit for something good that they didn’t do, like when a book “author” pays a ghostwriter for ghostwriting services but wants his own name on the book. Pretty sure this is not the USFS taking credit for something good they didn’t do. I think it’s more like if you ever want another federal contract you will agree to shut up. If that’s wrong then I’d LOVE TO HEAR IT from someone with the USFS — but I’ll bet money we won’t.
“Is the USFS covering the repair costs?”
Well, that could be part of the reason for the NDA.
Tanker 02 from Neptune and Tanker 106 from Erickson were the 2 tankers involved in the Integrated Operational Field Evaluation (IOFE). Not sure why the companies won’t admit that they were flying for IOFE, there are tons of photos of both aircraft clearly dropping Fortress FR200.
I believe it was 101
Here’s one from Steve Whitby:
Yes that’s BAe-146 Tanker 02. This was the last fire I was at in 2023; the drop was in a little valley east of Hwy 371 south of Anza a couple of miles north of Lower Hwy 79 near Aguanga off Jojoba Road.
Comments are closed for this article!