U.S. Allows 5 Fire Tankers to Return to Duty

Federal officials announced Friday that five heavy-duty air tankers will return to Western skies next week to help fight summer wildfires.

The aircraft are the first to be recertified for use out of a fleet of 33 privately owned tankers grounded earlier this year for safety reasons.

The government canceled contracts for the aging, ex-military aircraft after the National Transportation Safety Board recommended stricter maintenance and inspections in the wake of three fatal tanker crashes related to in-flight structural failures.

The planes, decades old, can carry large loads of retardant to fire scenes, helping to keep blazes under control. When the fleet was grounded, some officials complained that firefighting efforts would suffer as a result.

The government hired a Texas firm to review the tanker maintenance and flight records and determine which, if any, planes should be recertified for use. The first to pass the inspections were five ex-Navy P-3 Orions owned by Aero Union Corp. of Chico.

“With better information, and a precedent set for more thorough inspections by the contractors, we believe we can operate this equipment safely this fire season,” U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said.

The five aircraft will each be based in different regions west of the Rocky Mountains, including California, Alaska and the Southwest, and can be reassigned where needed. Officials said they did not know how many, if any, of the remaining grounded tankers would return to service.

Meanwhile, the government will continue to contract for more than 100 smaller planes and helicopters to compensate for the loss of the tankers.

Fire crews have done well with the smaller planes so far this year, putting out wildfires at a slightly higher rate than the last fire season.

“We actually have done better on getting fires out on initial attack this year than we did last year,” Interior Secretary Gale Norton said. “So overall, we have continued to operate quite well with the other aircraft.”

The five Aero Union tankers had less flight time than some of the other craft in the fleet and should have a number of years of use left in them, officials said. They will be limited to somewhat smaller loads of retardant -- 2,650 gallons as opposed to the usual 3,000 gallons -- to reduce the strain of low-altitude flying.