New safety rules set for firefighting planes

Monday, April 26, 2004 | 9:40 a.m.

In the wake of three fatal firefighting aircraft accidents blamed on cracked wings, including a 2002 crash of a Nevada-based air tanker, a federal safety board issued new maintenance programs on Friday.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent letters to the Agriculture Department, the Interior Department and the Federal Aviation Administration recommending new safety measures.

Earlier the U.S. Forest Service and aviation contractors providing the aircraft said safety measures that might have averted the accidents were too expensive.

The safety board ruled that fatigue fractures caused the wings of a C-130A to snap off on June 17, 2002, south of the Nevada state line in Walker, Calif., after it took off from the Douglas County Airport in Minden, the report said.

The crash killed pilot Steven Wass, 42, of Gardnerville; co-pilot Craig Labare, 36, of Loomis, Calif.; and flight engineer Michael Davis, 59, of Bakersfield, Calif.

In two other reports released by the Washington-based safety board, similar wing cracks are blamed for the August 1994 crash of a C-130 in Pearblossom, Calif., and the July 2002 crash of a similar air tanker in Estes Park, Colo. A total of five firefighters died in those accidents.

In 1993 the FAA, Interior Department and Air Force had agreed that the Forest Service should hasten maintenance and begin inspections for stress fractures.

The Forest Service grounded its C-130s after the 2002 crashes. After developing a new safety inspection process, the aircraft went airborne for firefighting again.

The board's investigation of the three accidents determined that maintenance and inspection programs used on current firefighting aircraft did not account for increased safety risks from advanced age and severe stresses on the firefighting environment, the report said.

"We hope the release of these reports will raise operator awareness of the unique problems that affect these specialized aircraft, and the importance of a thorough maintenance program to detect safety issues and prevent accidents," NTSB Chairman Ellen Engleman-Conners said.