Air Tanker down?

[snoopy]

Has anyone heard of anything regarding an air tanker or other fire-fighting aircraft down west of Edmonton yesterday or today?

[North Shore]

I sure hope not. Nothing on CBC Edmonton or Calgary sites...

[snoopy]

Ok, found this so far - anyone know any details?

http://www.edsonleader.com/ArticleDispl ... 1831&auth=

SRD plane makes emergency landing on highway
Posted 15 hours ago


By Victoria Carnaghan

Yellowhead County and Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) confirmed Saturday that an SRD pontoon plane made an emergency landing on Highway 16 eastbound sometime before 11 p.m. The pilot was not hurt, though officials couldn't confirm why the plane had to make the emergency landing about two kilometres east of Nojack.

Both eastbound lanes of traffic were closed until further notice.

For updates continue to visit http://www.edsonleader.com.

_______________________________________

And this:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/alberta ... 1-sun.html

News Alberta
Firefighters battling out-of-control blaze near Edson

By SUN MEDIA

Last Updated: 31st May 2009, 2:54am

Fire crews spent yesterday evening battling an out-of-control wildfire near Edson, about 150 km west of Edmonton.

Just after 7 p.m., crews were called to a blaze along Highway 16 near Niton Junction.

The flames quickly spread to consume more than four hectares of land in the area.

The fire was said to have started on one side of the divided highway and jumped to the other side, though the cause is still under investigation, officials said.

At 10:30 p.m., an air tanker was forced to make an emergency landing just outside of Edson on Highway 16's eastbound lanes, said Geoffrey Driscoll, wildfire information officer for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

The pilot and lone occupant of the plane was unharmed and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating.

The incident closed Highway 16 east as officials arranged detour routes, said Yellowhead County spokesman Catherine Adair.

Crews remained on scene to contain the fire.

No homes have been evacuated. However, three were placed on evacuation notice, she said.

Driscoll said there have been no reports of injuries or property loss.

[North Shore]

Phew! No-one hurt. The rest (including a stained flight suit?) is just minor detail...


ps. Snoopy, check pm's.

[TenForTwelve]

Global Edmonton had a story about the fire and had some footage. Looks like a Fire Boss did an emergency landing on Highway 16. Wheels down, nothing looked bent. Glad it worked out as well as it did! No other information given.

[atwork]

What kind of plane was it?

[North Shore]

^

Looks like a Fire Boss did an emergency landing

^

Fire boss = Air Tractor 802 on Wipline amphibs

[W5]

Picture:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Pla ... story.html

[Forestdump]

Just curious, Where are all the arm chair flyers on this one? "It's ok as long as no one was hurt...bla, bla, bla, " or "single engine turbines suck...bla, bla, bla, ." It is awfully quiet out there. Or maybe a picture is worth a thousand words.

[Cat Driver]

Or maybe a picture is worth a thousand words.

O.K. I'll bite.

What exactly is the picture supposed to tell us that is worth a thousand words?

You can skip a few hundred words and tell me what caused it to be on the highway, because as close as I look at that picture I cant find the answer to why it is sitting there.

[carholme]

.;

Don't have a thousand words but the mains are not down all the way (Looks like the keel is running on pavement) and if it was just a case of not enough time for them to be down and locked, would suggest something happened pretty quick and from low level. Engine/Fuel??



carholme

[Cat Driver]

True Carholme but why did he have to land there?

I was only wondering why the engine appears to have quit.

Highways sure save a lot of airplanes don't they?

[carholme]

.;

As in my previous, Engine/Fuel?? Whatever happened, it must have been quick if it is simply a matter that the gear did not reach full extension before touchdown. The nose are obviously down and locked. Lucky the road was there and I hope the pilot didn't suffer any injury.

carholme

[Cat Driver]

I absolutely agree with you carholme getting it down with no damage is really great.

Speaking of the gear on a set of Whipline floats we are hopefully finally going to get the lines hooked up on the Husky this weekend.

[carholme]

Ridley, Rod
Date: 2009/06/01
Further Action Required: No
O.P.I.: System Safety
Narrative: An Air Tractor AT 801A on amphib floats and operated by Conair experienced engine failure in the vicinity of Nojack, AB. The pilot executed a forced landing on Highway 16 with very minor damage to the aircraft and no injuries. This aircraft is U.S. registered and on lease to Conair for firefighting activities. TSB Edmonton has been in contact with the operator.

User Name: Ridley, Rod
Date: 2009/06/03
Further Action Required: No
O.P.I.: System Safety
Narrative: UPDATE TSB reported he Air Tractor Inc 802A-003 "Fire Boss" tanker, registration N1546H, was engaged in water bombing activity on a fire near Nojack, Alberta. The single engine aircraft was fitted with Wipair 10000 amphibious which had been modified to facilitate water scooping. While transiting from the fire to nearby Chip Lake at 500 to 600 feet above ground the engine (Pratt and Whitney PT6A-67AG) surged and flamed out. The pilot selected the flaps and landing gear down, completed a 180, and landed toward the west in the eastbound lane of Highway 16. Both nose-gear legs were down and locked prior to touchdown; however, there was insufficient time for the main gear actuators to extend fully and both main gear collapsed at touchdown. The keel sections of both floats and the bulkheads adjacent to the main gear wells sustained minor damage. The pilot was uninjured. The fuel filters, engine chip plugs and engine oil filter were examined on site after the incident and no discrepancies which would have contributed to a sudden loss of engine power were identified. Fuel samples taken from the wings and collector tank were clean. The engine started and ran normally after the incident. The aircraft was defueled after the ground run and found to contain approximately 175 litres of fuel. It was estimated that the fuel on board at the time of the incident was sufficient for approximately 50 minutes of flight. The AT-802A is fitted with two wing tanks that are interconnected through a collector tank, and fuel is free to flow between the wing tanks through the collector tank. The AT-802A Airplane Flight Manual emphasizes the importance of keeping the fuel level equalized in each wing tank, especially when the quantity gets down to one-half and below, as the engine can flame if one tank is run dry even if there is a substantial amount of fuel in the other tank. Air Tractor Inc. Service Letters 178 and 178A also address the issue of fuel imbalance. Fuel has a tendency to migrate to the right tank due to torque effects in normal flight, and fuel migration may increase in either direction during bombing action, where a succession of tight turns may result in a significant imbalance. When necessary, pilots balance their fuel tank loads by flying slightly uncoordinated. Fuel migrates in the same direction that the ball indicates in the slip indicator. The fuel gauge was indicating 1/4 to 1/2 on the right tank and 1/8 to 1/4 on the left tank prior to the incident, and the pilot was attempting to balance the gauge readings by holding aircraft was in uncoordinated straight and level flight, with the right wing high, when the engine lost power. The aircraft was fitted with a single fuel gauge with a switch to select the tank to be displayed. It was not fitted with a low fuel light. The rest of the Conair Air Tractor fleet has two independent fuel gauges and a low quantity fuel light. The operator has determined that the right tank quantity indication was over reading significantly. The fuel imbalance associated with the lower than indicated fuel state of the right tank allowed air to be drawn into the engine through the collector tank, resulting in engine flameout. The aircraft was on lease to Conair. The fuel quantity indication system had been calibrated on May 1, 2009, prior to Conair taking delivery of the aircraft. The aircraft has been ferried to the Conair main base in Abbotsford, B.C., where the fuel quantity indication system will be checked and calibrated in accordance with Air Tractor recommendations.

[Rudy]

It must be quite difficult to flight plan for flight operations that involve multiple changes in power settings, altitudes, and wind conditions. Perhaps impossible. Is looking at the fuel gauges to determine fuel remaining the typical procedure for firefighting, crop dusting, etc.? I think we all know how inaccurate they can be.

[Flybabe]

Not so much for fuel remaining (which isn't the question), it's for fuel balance. Air Tractors ( at the least the ones I flew) are notorious for imbalances.

[Rudy]

Yes, the right tank was indicating 1/4 to 1/2 when in fact the fuel that remained was significantly less. The engine flamed out while the pilot was intentionally flying uncoordinated to try to balance what remained.
Flybabe, How do pilots in the forest fire bombing industry determine how much time you can spend on a fire and when it's time to refuel?

[Widow]

That CADORs is very interesting. I can't remember seeing one quite so informative. I wonder if that is from the TSB's ASIS. It sure would be nice to have access to the ASIS.

[Cat Driver]

Seeing as these airplanes are operated at low altitudes and there is a known problem with fuel imbalance caused by skid/slip forces in flight why don't they install fuel pumps in the tanks so the pilot has a safe means of transferring fuel if necessary?

[SeptRepair]

Because it would cost way too much money to implement such a design. But not nearly as much as it would be to fix an aircraft after an accident because of a known issue. This is aviation after all. BTW this isnt a dig at Conair, its at the industry in general.

[Flybabe]

Rudy - I can only speak for myself. I don't fly a single anymore.

It's called fuel management. Calculation of fuel burn combined with gauges. Do we trust gauges? No. It's a combination. If we're concerned, we'll stick the tanks while reloading (we shut down, I fly a heavy tanker).

Now, I'm not sure if Conair does hot reloads - I did when spraying. You're not going to get out there with the engine running to stick the tanks.

[Cat Driver]

Seeing as these airplanes are operated at low altitudes and there is a known problem with fuel imbalance caused by skid/slip forces in flight why don't they install fuel pumps in the tanks so the pilot has a safe means of transferring fuel if necessary?

Got this comment.

Because it would cost way too much money to implement such a design.

Have we really progressed in aviation when the cost of certification of a safety related change to a design gives us this result?

But not nearly as much as it would be to fix an aircraft after an accident because of a known issue.

[Rudy]

The pilot should be commended for such quick maneuvering after a sudden failure like that. Could have been much worse.

[roger.roger]

The pilot should be commended for such quick maneuvering after a sudden failure like that. Could have been much worse.

+1