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.
Because of the extraordinary stresses placed on aircraft during aerial firefighting and to prevent catastrophic failures and ensure safety, the Forest Service adds requirements to its airtanker contracts that are specific to the agency’s firefighting mission. The Forest Service will not use aircraft that do not meet its requirements.
The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to State and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.
Part of the problem is that the big firetanker aircraft are VERY old. Companies like Aero Union and Hawkins and Powers were using surplus World War II bombers well up into the 1980s and 1990s. For a while, one of the firefighting companies was using USAF surplus C-130As built in the 1950s until the wings ripped off one of them during a run, killing the crew. And aerial firefighting is extremely hard on the airframes as well; it’s well outside the realm of what the planes were designed to do, with a lot of bumpy low-altitude flight and hard maneuvers that put a lot of wear and tear on wings and tails.
There is a serious shortage of large firefighting aircraft, that’s a big part of the problem. The Aero Union cancellation may have been politically motivated, and there may be green Nazis behind the lack of replacements. But there also just aren’t very many tankers left in that big four-engined DC-6 or C-130 class. And I don’t think the Air Force will sell their surplus stored out in boneyards like Davis-Monthan to private contractors.
}:-)4
Why were they grounded?
National Forest Service bureaucrats and some media accounts cite “safety” concerns. But as Representative Dan Lungren (R., Calif.) noted in a letter ... last year, a Federal Aviation Administration representative said it was a contractual or compliance matter, not safety, that doomed Aero Union’s fleet.
former Forest Service official and bomber pilot Tony Kern ... “You need to have the airplanes available now.” Veteran wildland firefighter Bill Gabbert... “The USFS should have awarded contracts for at least 20 additional air tankers, not seven.”