Largest firefighting plane sitting unused in Arizona Goodwin fire over US Forest Service delay

The Boeing 747-400 Supertanker can carry around 19,200 gallons of water, nearly twice the capacity of the DC-10 aircraft currently fighting the Goodwin fire scorching the Prescott National Forest in central Arizona, about 100 miles north of Phoenix.

“The aircraft works just like a big Super Soaker … the retardant is expelled by air pressure — it’s not gravity,” said Bob Soelberg, the senior vice president of Global SuperTanker Services, which owns the 747 Supertanker.

The aircraft is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and an older model was certified by the U.S. Forest Service. The new model, which uses the same tank system as the old plane, has had to undergo another Forest Service certification. Until that happens, the state of Arizona would not receive federal reimbursement for contracting the plane, and the plane cannot be flown in airspace with other Forest Service aircraft in the area.

“It’s just another tool in a toolbox; we just happen to think about it as a power tool while the rest of them are not,” Soelberg told the Washington Examiner.

Global SuperTanker Services took ownership of the the tank system in 2015 from Jet Midwest after Evergreen International Aviation, which initially developed it, went bankrupt. In the last year, the Boeing 747-400 has flown fire containment missions in Israel and Chile.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Babete Anderson said that “earlier tests indicated [the] tanking system needed adjustment to ensure proper delivery of the retardant.”

The Interagency Airtanker Board received Global SuperTanker’s complete documentation for compliance during the week of June 19 and is in the final stages of review, Anderson said. “When the process is followed by the vendor, it can take less than three months.”

The plane had to undergo a grid test in which retardant is sprayed from the supertanker while in flight onto a grid of cups to measure where and how much retardant hits the ground.

“Once the results of this Grid Test have been analyzed, the IAB will issue a decision in the coming weeks,” Anderson said.

The Goodwin fire has consumed nearly 25,000 acres of the national forest and forced thousands to flee since it began Saturday. On Wednesday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency. Three DC-10 aircraft have been used in the fight.

“That’s almost unheard of, having three of the VLATs — very large air tankers — on the same fire. They would have used more if there was more available,” Soelberg said.

Phoenix’s CBS 5 was the first to report that the airtanker was sitting unused on an Arizona runway while the fire burned.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., said she is working with the U.S. Forest Service to get the plane in operation.

“We are actively working to get answers from the Forest Service so this tool can be used to fight wildfires in Arizona and across the country,” Sinema said in a written statement to the Washington Examiner. “Our firefighters put their lives on the line to protect our homes, land and families, and they deserve to have the best, most innovative tools at their disposal so they can do their jobs safety and efficiently.”