Lawmakers press for newer planes to fight forest fires

WASHINGTON -- After two fatal crashes and with still-raging summer fires, lawmakers are criticizing the Defense Department over its delays in turning over some excess planes to battle wildfires.

Six years after Congress directed the Pentagon to cull its fleet for aircraft that could be converted to firefighting tankers, the first replacement has yet to arrive.

"It's time for the Defense Department to act," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who wrote the law authorizing the Pentagon to sell excess planes to companies that fly firefighting missions for the Forest Service.

The average age of the 32 firefighting air tankers with manufacturing dates on file with the Federal Aviation Administration is 47. The oldest rolled off the assembly line in 1943, while the newest is 36 years old, according to FAA data.

"We badly need to replace some old stuff," said Ed Stone, branch chief of aviation policy for the U.S. Forest Service.

No excess aircraft

Debra Bennett, a Pentagon supply systems analyst, said the military doesn't have any excess aircraft now and hasn't since 1996, when Congress directed that they be offered for sale to firefighting companies.

Only after each branch of the military -- Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard and Reserve units-- rejects the chance to claim a plane does it move to the excess category, Bennett said.

"It is a rare occurrence that an aircraft gets to that point," she added.

In contrast with "surplus" planes that no longer have any value to the military and can be sold publicly, excess planes are classified as still having some military value.

The Forest Service owns no planes. It says it's cheaper to contract with private companies, which then are responsible for maintaining and flying the planes. This year the service is using 45 planes from 10 contractors.

Twice as much flying

The severity of fires this year has forced the tankers to fly more than double their usual number of hours. Through July 24, the tankers had logged 7,658 hours in the air. In most years, they fly 5,933 hours all year and average 3,451 hours through July 25.

Three people were killed in June when the wings separated from a C-130A being used to fight a fire in California. Two weeks ago, a PB4Y-2 broke up and crashed while fighting a Colorado blaze, killing its two-man crew.

The planes were 46 and 57 years old, respectively. Investigations into those crashes are ongoing.