GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES
Ageing C-130As and PB4Ys are to be abandoned following a spate of crashes during fire-fighting operations
The US Forest Service is to abandon the use of elderly Lockheed C-130A Hercules and Consolidated PB4Y Privateer airtankers and will suspend fire mission operations by 19 government-owned Beech Barons (P-58s) and four Shorts Sherpa smokejumper aircraft as part of a series of safety changes.
The move follows the findings of a "blue ribbon panel" on aerial fire-fighting that was commissioned after a spate of crashes during last season's campaigns in California and Colorado. Three people died in June when the wings of a C-130A separated during low-level fire-fighting operations in California, and the two-man crew of a 57-year-old PB4Y died in similar circumstances over Colorado the following month. July also saw the fatal crash in Colorado of a Aerospatiale SA315B Lama helicopter, also on fire-fighting duty.
The Forest Service admits that grounding the older tankers, which provided about 10% of the fleet's water and foam-dropping capacity in 2002, when added to the other suspensions, could pose problems in the 2003 season. However, plans are in hand to use extra helicopters and military aircraft if needed.
The Forest Service, together with the Bureau of Land Management, which jointly commissioned the report, says it will consult the US Federal Aviation Administration to "develop a rigorous inspection and maintenance programme before we fly another mission". The remaining 33 large airtankers, including Lockheed PV-2s and Douglas DC-6s, will undergo the inspection and maintenance programme before they will be allowed to rejoin the fleet.
The future of the Baron fleet is also uncertain, given the panel's safety findings, which say: "The safety record of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters used in wildland fire management is unacceptable."
The panel called for the development of a common operations plan to sort out the "mission muddle" between federal land management agencies. "Wildland fire-fighting has grown to a level of importance that warrants the attention of national leaders," it says.
Source: Flight International
