This saga says a lot about the Coulson culture. That C-130 didn't pass the USFS inspection in Boise Idaho on its first attempt and their operations manual seems to be wanting. The NSW RFS bought the B737 as a multi-role LAT able to carry pax as well as fire bombing [not at the same time] but being in Restricted Category no pax allowed other than essential crew. That the CVR hadn't worked since May 19 and it's not in the check-list again is an issue. The crew pressed on and were not cancelled by their ops people is also telling of a cultural deficiency too...early in the season they cancelled some Bird Dogs flights as the crew were not current IFR...