Fire fighting

The crew was performing a survey flight while in a fire fighting program. In flight, the engine failed and the crew elected to make an emergency landing. The aircraft stalled and crashed in the Varnavka River. Both pilots and the passenger were injured while the aircraft sank and was damaged beyond repair.

Just after the airplane's landing gear was retracted during takeoff for a retardant drop mission, a ball of fire was observed coming out of the left jet engine before the airplane rolled steeply to the left and descended into the terrain. Prior to takeoff, the captain said he would make the takeoff and provided a takeoff briefing concerning the runway to be used and his intentions should an emergency develop. Shortly thereafter, the captain informed the co-pilot that this would actually be his (the co-pilot's) takeoff. On the cockpit voice recorder, the co-pilot stated "Same briefing (sound of laughter)". The co-pilot did not give an additional takeoff briefing beyond the one given by the captain and the captain did not ask the co-pilot to give one. During the initial climb, the captain said he detected a fire on the left side of the airplane and the copilot responded that he was holding full right aileron. At no point did either pilot call for the jettisoning of the retardant load as required by company standard operating procedures, or verbally enunciate the jet engine fire emergency checklist. Recorded data showed that the airplane's airspeed then decayed below the minimum air control speed, which resulted in an increased roll rate to the left and impact with terrain. The 11th stage compressor disc of the left jet engine failed in fatigue, which caused a catastrophic failure of the compressor section and the initiation of the engine fire. Metallurgical examination of the fracture identified several origin points at scratches in the surface finish of the disk. The scratches were too small to have been observed with the approved inspection procedures used by the company. A review of the FAA sanctioned Approved Aircraft Inspection Program, revealed no shortcomings or anomalies in the performance or documentation of the program. A post-accident examination of the airframe and three remaining engines revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operations.

In the early morning, the crew took off with this aircraft that was not airworthy for a survey mission (fire fighting). The crew did not file any flight plan and continued the mission without any contact with ATC. Approaching Novoternovskiy, weather conditions worsened and the horizontal visibility dropped to 10 metres due to thick fog. The crew reduced his altitude to 5 metres in an attempt to establish a visual contact with the ground when the pilot saw a the structure of an irrigation complex. At a height of 5 metres, he made a steep turn to the left at an angle of 45° to avoid the collision when the aircraft plunged to the earth and crashed in a field, bursting into flames. The aircraft was totally destroyed and both occupants were killed.

The crew departed Istanbul-Atatürk Airport in the afternoon on a fire fighting mission. While completing a scooping manoeuver in Lake Duru located about 50 km northwest of Istanbul, the aircraft crashed and burned. All three occupants were injured and the aircraft was destroyed. It was leased from Società Richerche Esperienze Meteorologiche (SOREM) to the Municipality of Istanbul (Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi).

The crew departed Pescara-Liberi Airport at 1719LT on a fire fighting mission in the Sirente-Velino Regional Natural Park under callsign CAN19. While approaching the area under fire, the aircraft initiated a slight turn to the right when it collided with the top of a hill and disintegrated, bursting into flames. The wreckage was found at an altitude of 1,155 metres near Acciano. While the copilot was seriously injured, the captain was killed.

The crew was completing a fire fighting mission in the region of Diliso, on the Evia Island, with four other water bomber and two helicopters. While approaching the zone under fire, the aircraft struck the ground and crashed, killing both occupants.

The aircraft was taking part to a fire fighting mission on the Tzia Island. While returning to scope in the Saronic Gulf, the aircraft struck a wave and came to rest off the Patroklos Island. Both pilots were rescued by the crew of a Super Puma helicopter from the Greek Navy while the aircraft was recovered but damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft departed Marseille-Marignane and was dispatched in an area west of Aubenas to fight a forest fire with one other Tracker, one De Havilland DHC-8 and two Canadair CL-415. After a first Tracker successfully dropped its retardant, the second Tracker approached the area when it collided with hilly terrain and crashed, bursting into flames. Both pilots were killed.
Crew:
Régis Huillier, pilot,
Albert Pouzoulet, pilot.

After take-off from Ajaccio Airport and a first scooping, the fleet composed of three planes with respective callsigns Pelican 44, Pelican 36 and Pelican 37 intervened on a fire at Piétramaggiore, near Calvi, Corsica, France. A first sector of the fire zone was treated by six passes. During the two following passages, the fleet dropped on another sector of the fire. Pelican 36 began its last scooping in the Gulf of Revellata at heading 250°, three minutes and fourteen seconds before the accident. At the end, it gained height and continued the circuit to arrive on the drop axis. The "doubling" action consists of releasing the water load at the precise location of the previous aircraft's release. During the last turn, it reached an altitude of 2,160 feet. Pelican 36 was observed on a trajectory estimated to be consistent by the crew of the following aircraft (Pelican 37) a few seconds before it passed over the drop site. However, video evidence shows that the track of Pelican 36 is further west than that of Pelican 44, which preceded it, and over higher terrain. One and a half seconds before the flight recorder stopped, the aircraft was in a right turn at an altitude of 1,360 feet. The angle of roll to the right and increasing was then 17°. While the elevators were nearly stable, the altitude stored by the flight recorder increased to 1,500 feet in one and a half seconds. After that the tail section of the aircraft separated from the fuselage. The aircraft then impacted the side of a mountain and broke up.
Crew:
Ludovic Piasentin, pilot,
Jean-Louis de Bénédict, copilot.

The airplane descended into the ground during takeoff-initial climb on a local fire reconnaissance flight. Witnesses reported that airplane became airborne, but was not climbing, and it continued down the runway in a nose-up attitude in ground effect until impacting terrain about 600 feet southeast from the departure end of the runway. The ambient temperature was about 107 degrees Fahrenheit, and the density altitude was calculated at 5,878 feet mean sea level. On scene examination found the flaps in the 30-degree position, which also corresponded to the flap actuator position. The cockpit indicator for the flaps also showed a 30-degree extension. A subsequent bench test of the combined flap/gear selector valve was conducted. During the initial inspection, both the gear selector and the flap selector valves were bent, but otherwise operational. The "stop-pin" on the flap selector lever was missing. There was no leakage of fluid during this test. Examination of both engines revealed no abnormalities, which would prevent normal operations. The aircraft flight manual specifies that the flaps should be set at 1/4 down (10 degrees) for normal takeoff.