Coulson T-134: scenes from memorial service in New South Wales

I came across a video of the memorial service for the crew -- Ian H. McBeth, Paul Clyde Hudson, and Rick A. DeMorgan Jr. -- the crew of T-134 that perished last week when T-134 crashed:  It is a moving video except for one thing, about six seconds of footage from the scene of the crash. I have a policy of not showing footage of crash sites. So, I have (hopefully) started the video after the crash footage. The footage is from Nine News Australia.




The New South Wales Rural Fire Service has a photo gallery of photos from the memorial service on their Facebook Page that may be found here.

RIP Ian, Paul, and Rick. May you always fly in favorable tail winds. My heartfelt prayers for your family. friends, colleagues at Coulson Aviation, and all who love you.

New group of IMETs deployed to Australia

I have written recently, on December 30th and January 13th, about the deployment of NWS Incident Meteorologists (aka IMETs) to Australia to help the Australian Bureau of Meteorology provide fire weather forecasts. The are deployed in six week cycles through early March 202. The first group of IMETs has or will soon be returning home. IMETs work as forecasters in NWS Forecast Offices when they are not deployed to fires. Thanks to the NWS Forecast Office for sharing your forecasters with Australia and for filling in the gaps to while one of your forecasters is gone. Thanks to the returning IMETs for your service, you were away from your families and friends, and I suspect you made new friends.

There is a new group of IMETs that has been or soon will be deployed to Australia where they will work with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology in three different offices (Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. See the graphic below. The graphic below represents IMETs have have been or are scheduled to be deployed to Australia.

Obtained from NWS IMET FB January 22nd post on January 28, 2020

Thank-you to:

• Patrick Gilchrist (NWS Glassgow) deployed to Brisbane
• Mark Struthwolf (NWS Salt Lake City), Mark Pellerito (NWS Binghamton) and Joe Goudsward (NWS Little Rock) deployed to Sydney
• Carl Cerniglia (NWS Tuscon), Terry Lebo (NWS Wilmington NC) and Todd Carter (NWS Spokane) deployed to Melbourne
• Deployments pending as of January 22nd: John Franks (NWS Wilmington, OH) and Heath Hockenberry (NIFC Boise ID)

There have been a couple of nice media reports on the work of the NWS IMETs featuring Todd Carter from the NWS Spokane, both include video reports: KQHQ6 (January 22nd) and KXLY (January 24th).

I am so very proud of our IMETs, you honor your country with your service.

Coulson T-134: memories from your friends in California

To Coulson Tanker 134, your friends in California remember you and I know you will be missed. I know that you spent some time in California last summer, I am not quite sure what your home base was, but I know that you were spotted at Ramona AAB in southern California (see Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation post of August 4th). I don't exactly know how long you were at Ramona working fires near San Diego. I have some friends in southern California, I am grateful that you took care of them last summer, even if it was only for a couple of days, those were important days to me. I do not know how many wildfires you worked in California last summer or where they were. That does not matter, what matters is that you did good work in California working with and protecting the firefighters on the ground. You did good work and your service in Australia and California will always be remembered. Your sacrifice in Australia will not be forgotten.

RIP Ian, Paul, and Rick

Post script, February 9, 2020. I would like to thank an anonymous friend who contacted me over the weekend about this post to remind me. They reminded me that I did not cite a source for the information about Tanker 134's presence in Ramona Air Attack Base for what may only have been a couple of days. I edited this post to correct those errors.

T-134 saved a ranch

Direct link to video on Youtube

T-134 at Sacramento AAB

direct link to video

Coulson T-134 crash update: January 24th

T-134, a C-130Q from Coulson Aviation crashed on January 22nd in the Snowy Mountains. They were working a bush fire near Snowy Monaro, see my article of January 23rd for more information. 

Coulson Aviation has identified the crew of T-134 that perished in the crash.

Captain Ian H.McBeth, 44, Great Falls MT

Ian is survived by his wife, Bowdie and their three children: Abigail, Calvin and Ella; his parents Willian and Anneliese; and his siblings Rick Fernandez, Eleanor McBeth and Aislinn McBeth.

First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, Buckeye AZ

Paul is survived by his wife Noreen

Flight Engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr., 43, Navarre FL

Rick is survived by his two children Lucas and Logan; his parents Rick Sr. and Linda; and his sister Virginia.

Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation has included the press release from Coulson Aviation in his January 24th post where you may go to learn more about Ian, Paul and Rick.

Ian, Paul and Rick, may you always fly in favorable tail winds along with T-134. I offer my prayers for your families, friends, co-workers at Coulson Aviation, and all who love you.

Coulson T-134 crashed in New South Wales Australia

It is with deep sorrow that I report the crash of a Coulson C-130, T-134, in New South Wales. She was working a bush fire in the Snowy Monaro Area in New South Wales Australia when she crashed on January 22, 2020. The three crew are dead. RIP T-134 and crew. May you always fly in favorable tail winds. My prayers go out to your family, friends, Coulson, and all who loved you.

The crash site is in a remote and rugged area of the Snowy Mountains, it took the emergency response team several hours to access the crash site.

Coulson is sending a team to help with the crash investigation and they have grounded their fleet today to remember the fallen. All large air tanker operations in New South Wales (and perhaps all of Australia) have been grounded as a sign of respect for the fallen.

A friend sent me a link to report of the crash by the media outlet France24, the report is dated January 23rd and may be found here. Bill Gabbert of Fire Aviation reports on the crash  in this post.


Direct link to ABC report on T-134

Obtained on January 23, 2020 from Coulson Aviation

About the Erickson Aero Tanker MD-87

It is way past time for me to write more about the current fleet of airtankers that have been under contract (exclusive use and call when needed) in the United States.

For no particular reason other then coming across a video of one of Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87's arriving in western Australia to fight bush fires, I am starting with the Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87.

Erickson Aero Tanker, wholly owned by Aero Air LLC, currently has five MD-87 air tankers. In addition, they have two more MD-87 that are ready to convert to tanker configuration. The MD-87, part of the MD-80 series, started out as an airliner manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The MD-80 series is an updated version of the DC-9. See this wikipedia article for more information on the MD-80 series and this airliner dot net article on the MD-87.

Specifications

• retardant capacity: 3,000 gallons
• cruise speed: 450 knots
• drop speed: 135 to 140 knots
• two retardant loading ports
• 900 mile loaded strike range
• See Erickson Aero Tanker FAQ. for more information as well as the home page of Erickson Aero Tanker 

According to Bill Gabbert's January 16th Fire Aviation article on U.S.tankers deployed to Australia to help with their current bush fire season, two of Erickson's MD-87's (T-102 and T-103) are be based at Perth in Western Australia. 

The first video is of T-102 dropping on a fire, I am not sure of the location. The second video is from 9NewsPerth reporting on the arrival of T-102. Note that 3,000 gallons is equivalent to about 11,350 litres

Direct link to video

Direct link to video from 9NewsPerth

More fun: Atlantic City Airshow featuring the USAF Thunderbirds

I shared a video on January 17th featuring the US Navy's Blue Angels. Continuing with airshows, I want to share a video from the 2018 Atlantic City Airshow featuring the USAF Thunderbirds. Allow about 34 minutes to watch this video. Enjoy.


Direct link to video on Youtube

Friday Fun: Fort Lauderdale FL May 2019 Airshow

I am currnetly working on some ideas that I hope will be upcoming reflection pieces. In the meantime, I am taking a break from my writing to find something fun to post for you. I found this video on Youtube showing footage of the Fort Lauderdale FL 2019 airshow. The footage is a lot of fun and it includes the Blue Angels as well as other airplanes, some performing aerobatics and some doing fly overs. The footage is about 20 minutes long. Enjoy.


Direct link to video from ScubaFilmFactory

2019 wildfire season: Apple Valley 2019 Fire Season

It is time for another 2019 highlight video, this one from a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) crew based in Apple Valley, CA.  What impressed me about this video is catching a glimpse of what a typical wildland fire crew does to stay in shape during fire season.

Thanks Apple Valley crew for all you did in 2019 fighting wildfires to keep us safe. Stay safe.


Direct link to video on Youtube

NWS IMETs continue to be deployed to Australia: January 13th update

National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists continue to be deployed to Australia where they are working with Meteorologists from the Australia Bureau of Meteorology. Among other things they are providing spot forecasts for specific locations where bush fires are burning so that the firefighters on the ground and in the air have the best possible forecasts.

Obtained from January 10, 2020 NWS IMET Facebook post on January 13, 2020

There is a nice news release from the National Weather Service dated January 10, 2020, the news release may be found here. NWS IMETs are deployed on six-week cycles through March 2020 per an agreement in place between the two governments.

Fire weather forecasting is specialized, the January 10th NWS news release discusses ome differences:

Forecasting for a wildfire is different from general weather forecasting, and requires unique knowledge and skills. For example, fires can create their own weather such as firestorms that produce dry lightning or send embers miles away from the storm. And a fire whirl, a swirling column of fire, is extremely hot and can be transient, making them very dangerous. Fire forecasters use a wide range of tools to get the job done. They closely monitor real-time observations of the atmosphere, such as wind, temperature and humidity, and they use advanced forecast models to predict weather parameters that will exacerbate current fires or create new starts.

A final point I want to mention from the article are differences because Australia is located in the southern hemisphere:

Forecasting in Australia, compared to North America, has its challenges. When forecasting south of the equator one must remember the trade winds blow from the southeast, the opposite direction than in North America and cold air comes from the south not the north as in the U.S.  And in Australia they use the metric system and the Celsius scale. Another task that takes getting used to for a forecaster is the difference in time zones between local (in Australia), UTC (the scientific universal time that meteorological data is time stamped with) and their home time zone, where they normally work.

Regular readers of this blog know that I am very fond of the NWS Incident Meteorologists (IMETs). You do important work, sometimes in difficult circumstances. I am sure that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology appreciates your help in their Sidney and Melbourne offices. Please know that your work is appreciated. Thank-you so very much. You are away from your loved ones, your sacrifice won't be forgotten.

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today continues to provide extensive coverage of the Australian bushfires. Here is a link to Bill's articles tagged Australia.

 

More about CAL FIRE's S2-T tankers - January 10th edition

I am returning to writing a little more about CAL FIRE’s S2-T Tankers. This article serves as a follow-up to two articles I wrote before Christmas, Reflections on CAL FIRE’s S2-T Tankers, Part 1 (December 16, 2019) and Part 2 (December 23, 2019)

This article is possible because of recent e-mails with an experienced CAL FIRE pilot.

First, he made a couple of corrections to part 1 that are reflected in the article. The most important correction is clarification on the number of S2-T’s in California. Twenty-two are assigned to twelve air attack bases with one or two S2-T’s assigned to each base. One, T-100 is a spare and is at McClellan Air Attack Base until needed. See the CAL FIRE pilot’s Association website for more information on CAL FIRE’s tanker bases, aircraft and other news.

He had a few things that he wants me to share with you using part 2 as a starting along with one of the earlier articles that I referenced in part 2, Reflections, S2-T's, SEATs and initial attack (May 24, 2009). So perhaps you will want to take a few minutes to review these two articles before going any further.

My friend started with initial attack,”97% of fires are stopped before 10 acres thanks to the rapid intervention and coordination of ground and air resources. Air (tankers and copters) are here to support the ground fire fighters and can't replace them. When retardant is dropped to stop the spread, buy time and contain the fire, it needs to be backed up by fire fighters.”

I asked him about dropping retardant on fires, he said “the perfect drop is a difficult equation and an eternal quest: perfect speed, height, timing, drift, line, quantity, and coverage level (note 1). Very humbling most of the time and very gratifying once in a while when it's achieved.”

Finally he talks about the airplane: “You need a good airplane, well maintained, a good tank system, good retardant (well mixed) and an experienced pilot to start, then you might have a chance to make a decent, safe, efficient, effective drop.”

Note 1. coverage level is the density of retardant in drop. Normally ranges from 1 to 7 and represents the number of gallons in a 100 square foot area (see  terminology on the Associatied Aerial Firefighters website.)

2020 Australian Bushfires: aerial operations

The United States will be sending four additional air tankers to Australia in the coming days to help out with the devastating bushfire season. See Bill Gabbert's January 4th article on Fire Aviation for more information.


Direct link to video


Here are two videos showing what tanker and helicopter pilots flying these fires are facing. A retired tanker pilot friend in the U.S. told me that while the conditions you will see in these videos seem very startling, that he had flown in similar conditions from time to time. The first video was released by the Australian Defence Department on Monday, January 6th.


Direct link to video

The second video is from Sky News, uploaded on January 4, 2020.


Direct link to video

Australian Bushfires: January 6, 2020

I am not sure that I have adequate words to write about the devastating bushfires in Australia. According to this January 6th NPR report there are at least 136 bushfires burning in Australia with about 25 deaths. There are a very large number of animals killed including but not limited to cattle, sheep and other livestock. The NPR report includes a map of where the bushfires are burning. Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today writes on January 6th about some 1,000 plus people being evacuated by navy ships and on January 4th Bill wrote about two deaths on Kangaroo Island and more air tankers being sent from North America.

CNN, January 6th Australian bushfires report by the numbers :

• 2,700 firefighters working the bushfires, at least three have died.
• estimates that 480 million animals have died

More coverage

• Wildfire Today, jJanuary 4th, photos of pyrocumulus clouds
• Wildfire Today, January 3rd, more wildland firefighters from United States deployed to Australia
• CNN photo gallery, January 6th

Australian Bushfires - January 3, 2020

Going back a little over two years, one of the ways I could judge when a wildfire was having significant impacts (size, evacuations, deaths, structures destroyed) was when I saw an article in The New York Times, or heard a report on National  Public Radio (NPR) or other national broadcast outlets. The New York Times is delivered to my house daily, so reading their coverage took no real effort. Listening to NPR or watching cable news took a little more effort on my part. Of course, I have places that I check out on an almost daily basis such as Bill Gabbert's Wildfire Today and Mike Archers Wildfire News of the Day. So I usually have an idea of current major wildfires or bushfires and when they are having severe impacts. My old barometer for when I should start paying closer attention was seeing an article in The New York Times or other broadcast media outlets (NPR, cable news).

Things have changed in the last 22 months when I got a tablet and then got a smartphone six months ago. Now I have Apple News. Perhaps it is because of the articles that I read on Apple News, but I when I see news of a wildfires on Apple News then I know that this a big deal and I should pay some attention. Most of the time, I will see similar coverage in The New York Times.

I started seeing news of the Australian bushfires on Apple News sometime before Christmas, so I knew these bushfires were bad news. As an aside, I promised someone from New South Wales in Australia whom I exchanged a couple of e-mails with a few years ago that I would use the phrase bushfires in my blog when referring to Australia. I do so here except when a source is using the phrase wildfire.

I subscribe to a local daily where over the last few years the focus has been on coverage of state and local news. International news and to a lesser extent national news focus on major events. So, I walk to the end of my driveway this morning to pick up the papers. The New York Times, as they often do with critical wildfires, had a photo and an article above the fold. That was not a surprise. What was a surprise was to see a my local paper's, The Star Ledger (website), coverage of the catastrophic bushfires in Australia on the front page, above and below the fold with a large headline. The coverage took up about two-thirds of the front page. You are going to have to trust me on this, as I have no link to show you the front page. Anyway, I was very impressed because I do not often see wildfire coverage on the front page of The Star Ledger. And this was an international story to boot.

The point to this article is that because I personally found The Star Ledger's front page coverage of the Australian bushfires to be very significant.I wanted to use the fact of their reporting as a jumping off point to post about the bushfires in Australia. Unfortunately, I can not find their coverage online, perhaps due to their arrangements with the wire services that authored the coverage. More accurately, I am writing to suggest a couple of places you may go to find more coverage of the bushfires. And to offer my thoughts and mediations to all those fighting the bushfires and their support staff and especially for all those affected by the bushfires. My heart goes out to all.

xx (limited free articles) has a nice photo spread along with their reporting of the bushfires, starting with Friday and going back a week. The photos are great and they have some links to their other reporting. You may find the New York Times photo essay, The Australia Wildfires in Pictures here .

Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today has extensive coverage of the Australia bushfires going back to before Christmas. To get you started, there are two good stories dated January 2, 2020: video of the bushfire shot be evacuees and Australian wildifire ordeal to worsen Saturday (January 4th).

New Years

As the end of this first day of 2020 approaches in a couple of hours, I would like to be able to wish everyone a happy a safe New Years. I would want to acknowledge and thank all the wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air along with their support staff who are working today on wildfires to keep us safe. But my thoughts are those in Australia who are suffering from a horrific bush fire season. This New Years will not be happy for many of those affected by the bushfires in Australia. Then there are those who are still recovering from devastating wildfires in California in  the past couple of years. And of courses, others outside of California and outside the United States affected by wildfires are also recovering. Finally, I find myself thinking about the devastating wildfires that hit the Amazon last year. I am not quite sure what to say on this first day of 2020.

Some of you who have been affected by wildfires may not be happy today. Those of you working the bushfires in Australia are away from your family and friends today, and to you I say thank-you for your service.

I wish all peace and safety in the New Year.