Tag: Argentina

Coulson sells a 737 air tanker to a province in Argentina

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Fixed wingTags , , 1 Comment on Coulson sells a 737 air tanker to a province in Argentina

The multi-use air tanker can carry 4,000 gallons of retardant or up to 72 passengers

737 Fireliner purchased by Provincia de Santiago del Estero in Argentina
Livery design to be on the 737 FIRELINER purchased by the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina.

Coulson Aviation USA has sold one of its Boeing 737 FIRELINER large airtankers to the province of Santiago del Estero in Argentina.

Britton Coulson, President and COO of the company, said the arrangement is similar to what was implemented in New South Wales, Australia when they purchased a FIRELINER in 2019. In NSW the state owns the aircraft which is operated and maintained by Coulson. When the Australian deal was signed, Mr. Coulson said the company would be looking to hire Australian pilots and ground crew.

Miguel Mandrille, the Minister of Production, Natural Resources, and Land said the new large airtanker’s main base will be at Las Termas De Rio Hondo and that the government plans to build a hangar for maintenance and training of the personnel as well as a loading base to fill the airplane. Minister Mandrille added “This is important not only for the province but also to the rest of the Argentinean provinces and neighbor countries that might need it.”

The agreement between Coulson Aviation and the Government of Santiago del Estero was made at the initiative of Governor Gerardo Zamora.

The FIRELINER is multi-use and can carry 15,150 liters (4,000 gallons) of retardant or up to 72 passengers. It is the first to be FAA Certified for both firefighting and passenger transport and is the largest and fastest multi-use air tanker. The Q400 MRs operated by France’s Securite Civile (Department of Civil Defence and Emergency Preparedness) can carry up to 10,000 liters (2,600 gallons) of water or retardant and can be converted in a few hours to carry 64 passengers.

Santiago del Estero is an inland province on the semi-arid Gran Chaco plains in northern Argentina. The Copo National Park is in the northeast corner.

Provincia de Santiago del Estero
The arrow points to the Provincia de Santiago del Estero in Argentina.

Coulson Aviation began their 737 project in 2017 when they purchased six 737-300’s from Southwest Airlines which had decided to replace them with the new 737-Max. Since the FAA only allows Southwest pilots to fly two  737’s with the same rating, the airline opted to sell the 737-300’s even though they had a relatively low number of hours in the sky.

In 2017 Britt Coulson said “With a full retardant load and 4.5 hours of fuel we are so far under max gross weight we are going to leave the full interior and galleys in even when just in airtanker mode.”

Tanker 137 dropping Alisal Fire
Tanker 137, a 737, dropping on the northwest side of the Alisal Fire near Santa Barbara, CA, Oct. 13, 2021. Photo by SBCFD.

Firefighting helicopter crashes in Argentina killing two

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories HelicoptersTags ,
wildfire argentina helicopter crash two dead
Map showing heat and smoke detected by a satellite at a wildfire in Argentina near Nahuel Huapi National Park.

A helicopter under contract to the government of Argentina crashed Wednesday, Dec. 29 while working on a wildfire in the Patagonia region of the country according to local press reports. The two on board, a pilot and a mechanic, were killed.

The Bell 412 helicopter went down near Quillen, a lake in Neuquen province.

More than 200 personnel are assigned to the fire which has burned 9,900 acres (4,000 hectares) in or near Nahuel Huapi National Park.

The Federal Council of the Environment (Cofema) of Argentina and the Argentine Ministry of the Environment have declared an emergency throughout Argentina for the last 12 months due to drought and the risk of fires.

We send our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and co-workers of the two firefighters.

Coulson signs agreement with Argentina for analysis of firefighting aircraft

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Fixed wingTags , , , 1 Comment on Coulson signs agreement with Argentina for analysis of firefighting aircraft
Coulson C-130 air tankers
Coulson’s three C-130 air tankers.

(Updated at 3:05 p.m. MDT June 20, 2017)

Coulson Aviation has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Argentina that will enable the country “to analyse and, eventually, develop as a whole, an air combat division” for suppressing wildfires.

The Secretary for Logistics and Military Coordination for Emergencies, Walter Ceballos, made the announcement on his Facebook page on June 15.

In the photos above, Wayne Coulson, the CEO and President of Coulson Aviation, is wearing a white shirt and a light blue tie. Mr. Ceballos is next to him in the brown suit.

Google’s automatic translation of the text in the above post:

I am grateful to the CANADA CCC programme which allowed the ministry of defence to be linked to Coulson Aviation, a specialized company and certified in air fire operations. We signed a memorandum of understanding to analyse and, eventually, develop as a whole, an air combat division, with the FAA’s hr and operational operations to serve the national plan to fight fire.

We checked with Britt Coulson, Vice President of Aviation, who explained that the company “is in the final stages of negotiations with Argentina to [provide] a turnkey fleet of command and control, fixed wing, and rotary wing assets” as well as a full training program. If the agreement is consummated, the aircraft would be on contract, owned and operated by Coulson.

Mr. Ceballos is also interested in the Russian-made amphibious Be-200 air tanker and has pinned the following at the top of his Twitter account:

Twitter’s automatic translation of the above text:

Visit to Beriev to evaluate B200 (Multiflight Amphibious Plane).

In addition to having three operational C-130-type air tankers and a fourth one on the way, Coulson has purchased six 737-300’s from Southwest Airlines and intends to convert at least some of them into air tankers. One has been painted and has started the conversion process.

Coulson 737 air tanker
One of Coulson’s 737’s — the first one to be painted and to start the air tanker conversion process.