Fire Fighting P3 down.
The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a
team to begin an investigation into the crash of a
firefighting aircraft in California that killed all three
crewmembers aboard.
At approximately 6:50 p.m., PDT, Wednesday, April 20,
a Lockheed P-3B air tanker, N926AU, owned and operated by
the Aero Union Corporation of Chico, California, crashed
immediately following a fire retardant training drop near
Chico. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
According to the company, the accident flight was the
seventh flight of the day for that aircraft. The purpose of
the flights was to conduct qualification checks for pilots
who were scheduled to conduct firefighting operations during
the upcoming fire season. The aircraft was manufactured in
1966 and was formerly operated by the United States Navy.
It was powered by four Allison T56A11 turboprop engines.