I often despair at how messed up our government can be at times:
Jumbo air tanker wins protest, may fight more US wildfires - news - att.net
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A giant passenger jet converted to fight wildfires was grounded this year by U.S. officials during much of what turned out to be an especially destructive U.S. fire season, but it could be flying much more next year.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Thursday sided with Global SuperTanker Services in its battle with the U.S. Forest Service. The Colorado Springs, Colorado-based company challenged the agency's 5,000-gallon (19,000-liter) limit on air tankers, which kept the 19,000-gallon (72,000-liter) plane idle until late August.
After that, the Boeing 747-400 flew only in California in a deal with the state.
So basically the U.S. Forest Service refused to let the 747 Supertanker fight wildfires because it dropped
too much water/fire retardant during one of the worst fire seasons on record.
This is too stupid to make up
