Changes In Aerial Firefighting Considered
Federal Panel Chosen To Look Into Fatal Crashes
POSTED: 7:38 a.m. MDT August 1, 2002
DENVER -- An outside panel of aviation safety experts has
been chosen to recommend changes in aerial firefighting before the
next fire season, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
The panel will be headed by former National Transportation
Safety Board chairman Jim Hall, said Tony Kern, Forest Service aviation director.
The announcement Wednesday came a day after a fatal crash
Tuesday of a helicopter working on hot spots from a wildfire near
Rocky Mountain National Park. It was the third fatal aerial
firefighting crash in two months in the West and the second near
Estes Park.
The other crashes involved air tankers.
Kern said the Forest Service would consider grounding
firefighting helicopters for inspections if there is any indication
that a structural defect contributed to the accident Tuesday.
Investigators have not said what might have caused the crash.
On July 22, Forest Service officials warned firefighting
helicopter crews that they should not fly with water-bucket lines
that were less than 50 feet long.
The bulletin came after two cases in which winds may have blown
water buckets on shorter lines up into helicopters and damaged tail
rotors.
It was unclear whether that contributed to the latest crash.
Changes to aerial firefighting could come even without the
recommendations of the outside panel.
Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., has introduced a bill that would
allow the Forest Service to request military aircraft for
wildfires. Those aircraft are much newer than many of the privately
contracted World War II tankers used now.
Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh in Washington, D.C., said
that this fire season has required heavier use of aircraft than the
Forest Service ever anticipated.
"We designed the system originally for the tankers to drop
retardant in the initial attack to contain the fire quickly,"
Walsh said. "With these horrific fires, we're using our tankers
for a longer period of time. We never envisioned the tankers flying
for days on fires like the Hayman Fire."
The Hayman Fire was the state's largest wildfire. It burned on
nearly 138,000 acres.
This season the Forest Service has contracted 46 tankers and
about 150 helicopters.
The panel will be headed by former National Transportation
Safety Board chairman Jim Hall, said Tony Kern, Forest Service aviation director.
The announcement Wednesday came a day after a fatal crash
Tuesday of a helicopter working on hot spots from a wildfire near
Rocky Mountain National Park. It was the third fatal aerial
firefighting crash in two months in the West and the second near
Estes Park.
The other crashes involved air tankers.
Kern said the Forest Service would consider grounding
firefighting helicopters for inspections if there is any indication
that a structural defect contributed to the accident Tuesday.
Investigators have not said what might have caused the crash.
On July 22, Forest Service officials warned firefighting
helicopter crews that they should not fly with water-bucket lines
that were less than 50 feet long.
The bulletin came after two cases in which winds may have blown
water buckets on shorter lines up into helicopters and damaged tail
rotors.
It was unclear whether that contributed to the latest crash.
Changes to aerial firefighting could come even without the
recommendations of the outside panel.
Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., has introduced a bill that would
allow the Forest Service to request military aircraft for
wildfires. Those aircraft are much newer than many of the privately
contracted World War II tankers used now.
Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh in Washington, D.C., said
that this fire season has required heavier use of aircraft than the
Forest Service ever anticipated.
"We designed the system originally for the tankers to drop
retardant in the initial attack to contain the fire quickly,"
Walsh said. "With these horrific fires, we're using our tankers
for a longer period of time. We never envisioned the tankers flying
for days on fires like the Hayman Fire."
The Hayman Fire was the state's largest wildfire. It burned on
nearly 138,000 acres.
This season the Forest Service has contracted 46 tankers and
about 150 helicopters.
Previous Stories:
- July 31, 2002: Pilot Identified In Big Elk Fire Chopper Crash
- July 30, 2002: Chopper Crashes Near Big Elk Fire
- July 24, 2002: Fallen Air Tanker Pilots Remembered
- July 23, 2002: Ceremony To Remember Fallen Pilots Of Big Elk Fire
- July 20, 2002: Pilot Killed In Crash Was Newly Married
- July 24, 2002: Airport Neighbors Worry About Slurry Bombers
- July 19, 2002: 2 Killed When Air Tanker Fighting Big Elk Fire Crashes
- June 9, 2002: Air Tankers Fighting Coal Seam Fire Grounded
Copyright 2002 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
