Background
The USFS had traditionally relied on contracting with private companies to provide large airtankers for fighting forest fires, the majority of which had been retired World War II and Korean War-era transports, bombers, and maritime patrol aircraft. Such aircraft were relatively inexpensive to obtain and could carry the large loads of fire retardant needed to make their use effective. In the 1980s, the bulk of the airtanker fleet consisted of C-119 Flying Boxcars which had been obtained from the military. After concerns about safety, the aging C-119s were grounded in 1987. Because the available airtanker fleet was substantially diminished, the Forest Service needed to obtain additional aircraft for firefighting operations.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Forest Service Airtanker Scandal
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