The Texas A&M Forest Service reminds drone operators that they are not allowed to fly drones when there is a wildfire nearby.
A helicopter recently delivering water on a fire in Caldwell County nearly collided with an airborne drone, and the state firefighting agency says the drone came within just feet of the firefighting aircraft, according to a report by KBTX-TV.
Firefighters in the state of Washingon (among others) are fed up with people flying their drones above wildfires. A state DNR official says the problem is massive and just getting worse. On Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources posted a series of online messages warning drone operators about flying near wildfires.
The DNR said fire vs. drone incidents have occurred “multiple times this year” and have prevented aircrews from flying on fires. “It’s not cute!” it added.
Officials remind the public that drones are a serious hazard and someone could be killed if a drone should collide with a firefighting aircraft. Air ops on fires will be shut down — grounding helicopters and fixed-wing ops — if you or your buddies are flying a drone anywhere near a wildland fire.
If a drone is spotted in the fire area, firefighting aircraft will be grounded and air ops suspended until the drone leaves or is otherwise taken down.
KAGS-TV reported that the recent drone incursion in Texas came within just feet of fire aircraft. “Pilots have no way to detect a drone or know there is one present in the airspace until they see it,” said Texas A&M Forest Service Aviation Manager Jared Karns.
The FAA restricts activity around wildfires (Temporary Flight Restrictions) to ensure that firefighters have a safe space to operate in fire areas and fight fires. Incursions with a drone into a fire TFR can result in charges and very expensive fines in many states.
The scooping air tanker was refilling at Lake Livingston
Updated 8:53 a.m. CDT August 10, 2022
Aviation Safety Network reports that the Single Engine Air Tanker that crashed in Lake Livingston in Texas August 9 was an Air Tractor AT-802F Fire Boss (N830DA) operated by Aero Spray Inc, DBA Dauntless Air. Reportedly it lost control on takeoff after scooping water and then submerged. The pilot was rescued with unspecified injuries and treated on scene.
The image below from FlightAware shows the last flight of the aircraft.
Aviation Safety Net has records of 122 Air Tractor AT-802 mishaps since May 18, 1997 that resulted in 48 fatalities. In addition to firefighting, the aircraft is used for agricultural operations, commonly referred to as crop dusting. But without being able to drill down and know the number of accidents per 100,000 flight hours, it is difficult to determine if what may look like troublesome numbers is actually an artifact of flying a high number of hours.
7:27 p.m. CDT August 9, 2022
Tuesday afternoon, August 9, a single engine air tanker working on a wildfire in southeast Texas crashed in Lake Livingston. The pilot was quickly rescued, taken to shore, and treated.
The accident was announced by the Texas Forest Service’s Lone Star State Incident Management Team which said the agency was assisting with wildfires in the Corrigan area.
The incident occurred at about 5 p.m. CDT. Lake Livingston is 25 miles southwest of Corrigan and 55 miles northeast of Houston.
The Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss is amphibious. It has floats and can skim across the surface of a lake to refill its water tank, then fly to the fire and assist firefighters by dropping water. The Texas Forest Service does not own any air tankers, they issue contracts to private companies.
When we hear more about the condition of the pilot we will update this article. An 802 Fire Boss usually only has one person on board.
There have been two other incidents in the last seven days involving Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss air tankers.
On August 3 a Fire Boss suffered an engine failure and made a forced landing while working on a fire in British Columbia. The pilot survived.
Two days later on August 5 a Fire Boss crashed and sank in the Gulf of Elefsina while working on a fire near Nea Peramos in Greece. It occurred about 12 miles west of Athens as the air tanker was scooping water. Both crew members were rescued.
There have been three recent fatal helicopter crashes related to wildfires.
On July 16 a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter crashed northeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, killing all four on board. It had been assisting with a wildfire, providing bucket drops and other air logistics needs to fire crews on the ground.
A Boeing CH-47D helicopter crashed into the Salmon River July 20, 2022 while working on the Moose Fire in Idaho, firefighters swam across the river to extract and care for the two pilots. Unfortunately, both of the pilots died from their injuries.
On June 26 a Bell UH-1B operated by Northern Pioneer Helicopters out of Big Lake, Alaska was attempting to assist firefighters by hauling equipment to the Clear Fire by a 125-foot long line. It was maneuvering at the Clear Airport 53 miles southwest of Fairbanks about 140 feet above the ground to have the end of the long line connected to the cargo. A loud noise was heard and the helicopter fell to the ground, killing the pilot, the only person on board.
Aside from seeing and learning about what’s new in the industry and meeting old and new friends, one of the best parts of attending a large conference is accepting promotional items offered by the exhibitors.
In the last in a series of articles about the HAI Heli-Expo last week in Dallas, today we have examples of some of the items that the 590 exhibitors in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center were giving away.
I was surprised that a few companies had full-blown fancy coffee systems run by baristas. Quite a few had high-quality cookies and small candy bars. Of course most of the exhibitors that had any promotional items had writing instruments.
Here is a list of items that found their way into my bag (which you can see in the photo at the top of this article):
Pens:
AAR
Turbopower
Recoil Aerospace
Helicopter Association International
Columbia Helicopters
ACES
United Rotorcraft
Aero Performance
Miraj (with folding wings)
Multi-tool, Recoil
Clips:
LMS
Sunvair
Turbopower
Foam helicopter, Americase
Fabric sunglasses bag, PSI
Fidget spinner, Timberline Helicopters
Water, Schweizer
Luggage tag
Helicopter Association International
(unknown, possibly Donaldson Filtration Systems, since they laminated my card on wrong side of the tag)
T-shirts
Donaldson
SkyQuest Aviation
Metro Aviation
Cookie, with chocolate logo, Metro Aviation
Desktop cell phone holder, Isolair Helicopter Systems
Awards:
Coolest single item
Metro Aviation, cookie, chocolate on one side bearing their logo.
Coolest single item, honorable mention
MIRAJ, pen with folding wings.
Overall most impressive giveaway program
Timberline Helicopters. They took the promotional items to a whole different level, at least when measured by the variety and quantity. They had bagels, muffins, cream cheese, fidget spinners, croissants, metal coffee cups, two kinds of water infused with fruit, shirts, coffee, microfiber cloths, key fobs, squirt bottle (for ketchup?), and inflatable tubes (like noise-makers at sports games?).
In another in the series of reports from last week’s HAI Heli-Expo in Dallas today we have 17 photos of a small portion of the 590 exhibitors that were at the event in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Earlier, in Volume 1 and Volume 2, we had photos of the helicopters and interviews with a few of the exhibitors. In a day or two we will feature some of the best items that were being given away to the attendees.
We continue to wrap up information and photos from the HAI Heli-Expo in Dallas this week. The event in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas hosted under their roof 590 exhibitors, more than 40 helicopters, and about 13,000 attendees from 72 countries.
Yesterday we posted 16 photos of helicopters, and today we have another 16. In the coming days we will post more showing the exhibitors, and finally some of the best items that were being given away to the attendees.
The HAI Heli-Expo in Dallas this week has drawn to a close. The huge convention center downtown hosted about 13,000 attendees from 72 countries, 590 exhibitors, and more than 40 helicopters under its roof.
The show featured the latest aircraft, engines, avionics, and other goods and services for rotorcraft and uncrewed aircraft.
Last year the Heli-Expo scheduled to be in New Orleans was cancelled due to COVID. The one before that in Anaheim, California across the street from Disneyland occurred at the end of January, 2020 just as COVID cases were starting to appear in California and other states.
Next year the event will be held in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center, March 6–9, with exhibits open March 7–9.
Below is a gallery of 15 photos, just of the helicopters. On March 12 we will have another gallery with 16 additional images of helicopters. Following that we’ll have more showing the exhibitors, and finally some of the best items that were being given away to the attendees.
At the HAI HELI-EXPO in Dallas today I talked with some exhibitors and shot video, covering the intricacies and the mechanics of one model of the Bambi Bucket, the philanthropic aviation organization that conducts search and rescue missions, a moving transparent model of a Pratt & Whitney turboprop aircraft engine, and a helicopter tug that is operated completely by remote control.
The exhibits at the annual extravaganza hosted by the Helicopter Association International (HAI) will wrap up Thursday, March 10.
Here is a second batch of photos of helicopters flying in to the HAI Heli-Expo in Dallas. The first batch was from March 4, 2022; these were taken March 5. That link also has more details about the event.