Originally Posted by
Don_Apron
Yes very sad indeed. RIP
We are talking about affordable risk here. Can CASA afford not to let these aircraft operate in times of emergency?? All the bomber pilots are aware of the stress put on firebombing aircraft to a certain extent I am sure. There is also the severe turbulence in and around fires and hill country especially in strong to gale force winds. Not to mention the strain and aerodynamic buffeting a bomber is subject to, when dispensing material at jettison rates. Surely this is a national emergency for Australia, so get the water and retardant on. What does need looking at is the remuneration for pilots.
I have to say that your comments are a total load of crap. I have 15 years experience in fixed winged fire fighting ops in Canada. back in the bad old days of the late 60's and 70's we used to lose a least a crew a year with many years having multiple fatal accidents. In the early 1980's the customer (the provincial forest services), said
ENOUGH. They insisted on proper SOP's, airplanes fit for services and companies/provincial aviation departments that were committed to safe operations. Since then over a 100 fixed wing fire fighting aircraft are operated in Canada every year with only 2 fatal accidents in the last 10 years.
It seems to me it is time that Australia go big or go home. Going big means a serious national effort to fund a standing fleet of aircraft with the associated ground support infrastructure and an effective operational control system.