When wildfires strike, the air around a blaze can be teeming with firefighting aircraft.
And what that means is you shouldn’t be flying in that same airspace.
In the last two years, the U.S. Forest Service reported 10 general aviation incursions into fire traffic areas where no Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) existed.
Of course, aerial firefighting operations can prompt the establishment of a TFR in the airspace around a wildfire.
As this was being written, a new TFR was declared southwest of Los Alamos, New Mexico, where wildfires presented a major threat. Its stated purpose was “to provide a safe environment for fire fighting aircraft ops.”
But TFRs are not that common. In fact, the total number of TFRs is small in comparison to the number of fires each year. In 2020 there were 58,950 fires and only 1,325 TFRs were implemented. In 2021, 58,985 fires prompted 1,227 TFRs, according to data from the Forest Service’s National Airspace Coordinator for Wildfires.
Before fire managers request a TFR, they evaluate the types of aircraft that will be in the airspace, explains Stanton Florea, a Forest Service fire communications specialist. This can range from huge DC-10 jetliner tankers to small single-engine tankers or helicopters. If suitable water sources are in the vicinity, amphibious scooper aircraft also may be deployed.
Fire managers also endeavor to predict the duration of a fire. They also look at the fire’s proximity to complex airspace and other situational factors, he says.
If a fire manager determines a TFR is advisable, it can take as little as 30 minutes to establish it, Florea reports, noting the timing depends on the Air Route Traffic Control Center and the time of day a TFR is requested.
How adept is the general aviation community in steering clear of fires where no TFR has been established?
“While the overall numbers still remain low, unfortunately we are seeing an increase in the number of general aviation incursions,” Forest Service officials say. “This is possibly due to increased wildfire activity across the country, but any incursion into that airspace can lead to the potential for a mid-air collision.”
“Over the past two years we have had 10 general aviation incursions, three military incursions, and 21 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) incursions into the Fire Traffic Area (FTA) without a Temporary Flight Restriction in place. Incursions into the FTA can lead to near mid-air collisions, which is a significant event.”
Tips for General Aviation Pilots During Wildfire Season
From the Forest Service’s National Airspace Coordinator for Wildfires come these tips for GA fliers:
- Pilots are advised to check NOTAMs frequently for possible changes in the National Airspace System (NAS)
- TFRs may pop up at any time, but are most common in the afternoon
- Flying near TFRs during fire season requires additional planning — have alternate plans and strategies and be ready to divert
- Pilot need to realize that firefighting air tankers and support aircraft may need to make sudden and unexpected changes in direction, speed, and altitude,
- Be alert
- Practice see and avoid
- Be smart: Just stay away from wildfires and smoke.
In recent years, more and more drones are impacting firefighting operations. During each fire season reminders are published with that in mind.
Sometimes, a drone may be technically legal, yet pragmatically dangerous, in a developing fire scene, fire officials note.
Historically, this has been used by the Department of the Interior as a reason to request a TFR if prolonged aerial firefighting operations are anticipated at a location.
The presence of drones has been cited by fire managers as a reason to stop aerial firefighting operations at a fire site.
Training For Wildfires
I saw first-hand the need for a pro-active separation of firefighting aircraft and general aviation aircraft when I witnessed a training exercise earlier this spring.
The skies over Idaho were populated with eight C-130 Hercules transports April 25-29, 2022, as the aircraft converged on Gowen Field (KBOI) in Boise for the annual Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) training.
The US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, other federal wildland fire agencies, and CAL FIRE conducted the training.
C-130s and crews came from the Air Force Reserve’s 302nd Airlift Wing from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, the Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing, the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing, and the Nevada Air National Guard’s 152nd Airlift Wing.
The training includes classroom sessions, flying, and ground operations for Air Force aircrews, civilian lead plane pilots, and support personnel from federal and state wildland fire agencies.
The C-130 Hercules carries the Forest Service’s MAFFS tank system, which can drop up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in less than 10 seconds across a quarter-mile line.
The system rolls into the back of the cargo compartment. The left troop door is replaced with a door containing an aperture that seals around a nozzle that gushes the fire retardant under pressure.
An air hose, routed along with the fluid hose, pressurizes the MAFFS system with air to properly expel the load. It takes about 15 minutes to fully load a MAFFS-equipped C-130, according to officials.
The water, or retardant, plume is released from an altitude intended to enable the fluid to lose most of its forward speed as it nears the ground. This provides the best coverage for fire protection without propelling debris on impact. This also avoids a phenomenon called “shadowing” where retardant unevenly coats one side of vegetation more than the other.
Depending on the kind of vegetation feeding the fire, the tanker can adjust its release for a lighter and longer pass or shorter and more intense drop.
The C-130s flew to drop zones in nearby mountainous areas to practice fire tactics. Crews in a Forest Service Super King Air lead plane and a CAL FIRE OV-10 airtactical aircraft radio communications and puffs of smoke to tell the C-130 crews where to begin and end the drop line.
Aboard the C-130, the copilot has the release trigger while the pilot flies the airplane. A MAFFS crew, depending on the C-130 variant, can also include a navigator plus flight engineer and loadmasters.
A classic aerial delivery run for an air tanker is either level flight or often a downslope pass.
According to Lt. Col. Jesse Newberry, a pilot with the Air Force Reserve 302nd Airlift Wing, the release of fire retardant from his C-130 is felt in the cockpit.
“What you actually experience is a little kick forward in airspeed,” he explains.
The crew likes to cash in that 10 knot speed increase for some altitude, he adds.
You can learn more about MAFFS at the Air Force’s website.
