Originally Posted by
malabo
Lots of idle fire-fighting helicopters and crews in the Northern Hemisphere. Some operators that shipped there for the season in the past didn’t this year, so beyond a few koala bears nobody is feeling much urgency. Too late to mobilize for the season now anyway.
I am not sure it is accurate: this is maintenance and training season in the Northern Hemisphere. For Australia I would have thought the Be-200 is the most suitable aircraft.