Firefighting Tankers Fly In Spite of Safety Concerns | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

 Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.06.24

Airborne-NextGen-04.30.24

 Airborne-Unlimited-05.01.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers--05.02.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.03.24

Wed, May 25, 2005

Firefighting Tankers Fly In Spite of Safety Concerns

Investigation Continues Into California Mishap

NTSB investigators Tuesday said they have not ruled out structural or mechanical faults in the crash of a firefighting Lockheed P-3 in California last month. Regardless, the US Forest Service has returned to service a portion of its aerial tanker fleet.

As ANN reported in real-time April 21st, the Aero Union Corporation tanker went down at night while on a training mission over California's Ishi Wilderness. The mishap claimed the lives of three people and touched off a small fire.

In typical fashion, the NTSB refused to rule anything out as its investigation into the crash continued.

"We've made no conclusions, preliminary or otherwise," NTSB spokesman Paul Schlamm told the Oakland Tribune. Even so, just two days after the mishap, a spokesman for the Forest Service declared officials were "cautiously optimistic" that structural failure was not a factor in the P-3 accident. The spokesman said the service would not ground its remaining tankers.

Even so, the number of tankers allowed to fly for the Forest Service has dwindled considerably. Only seven P-3s and two P-2Vs are in the skies fighting forest fires this season.

FMI: www.fs.fed.us

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.07.24): Hazardous Weather Information

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.07.24)

Aero Linx: The T-6 Racing Association The T-6 Racing Association is all about T-6‘s and racing. Our mission is to bring great racing to our fans in Reno and other venues wher>[...]

Airborne 05.01.24: WACO Kitchen, FAA Reauthorization, World Skydiving Day

Also: Electra Aero, AMO-CBP v Smugglers, Naval King Airs, Boeing Deal To the surprise of everyone involved, Waco Kitchen shut down both airport operations with little warning and h>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 05.02.24: Bobby Bailey, SPRG Report Cards, Skydive!

Also: WACO Kitchen Bails, French SportPlane Mfr to FL, Dynon-Advance Flight Systems, Innovation Preview Bobby Bailey, a bit of a fixture in sport aviation circles for his work with>[...]

Airborne 05.03.24: Advanced Powerplant Solutions, PRA Runway Woes, Drone Racing

Also: Virgin Galactic, B-29 Doc to Allentown, Erickson Fire-Fighters Bought, FAA Reauthorization After dealing with a big letdown after the unexpected decision by Skyreach to disco>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Change Display

Headlines Only | Headlines w/ Teasers | View Everything

Advertisement

Top Videos

Airborne 05.10.24: Icon Auction, Drunk MedEvac Pilot, Bell ALFA

Airborne-Flight Training 05.09.24: ERAU at AIAA, LIFT Diamond Buy, Epic A&P

Airborne 05.08.24: Denali Update, Dad-Daughter Gyro, Lake SAIB

See All

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC