Since yesterday (05) the population of Chile has had a great reinforcement in the fight against forest fires. One classic McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, adapted for firefighting activity, arrived in the South American country on Sunday. The plane is operated by the company 10 Tanker Air Carrier, better known as 10 Tanker, which has three other trijets transformed into firefighter planes.
The hiring of Ten Tanker was announced by the Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, last Friday (03), in the face of the 251 forest fires that, until last Saturday (04), had already left 23 dead, 979 injured – 16 in serious condition – and 10 missing. The flames are concentrated in the regions of La Araucanía, Biobío and Ñuble, causing President Gabriel Boric to declare a state of catastrophe.
#InfoDGAC now in Ad. Carriel South #Talcahuano Control Tower employees @DGACChill dan bienvenida aircraft DC-10 "Ten Tanker” that will operate in the region to the fight against forest fires. pic.twitter.com/qJC6JBdj4H
— DGAC Chile (@DGACCile) February 6, 2023
Coming from the United States, the DC-10-30F with registration N522AX and registration number 912 made a stopover in Panama, landing in Antofagasta on Sunday morning. There, according to 10 Tanker, the aircraft will be fueled and the crew will rest, starting activities this Monday in Concepción.
Tanker 912 making its descent to Antofagasta, Chile for fuel and crew rest. Tomorrow- Concepción to help the firefighting effort. pic.twitter.com/YCqk1mnN4y
— 10_Tanker Air Carrier (@Ten_Tanker) February 6, 2023
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According to airfleets, the trijet is just over 35 years old, manufactured in 1988 for Japan Air System (JAS) under registration JA8550, being transferred to Harlequin Air in 1997. In 2000 it returned to the USA to operate for Northwest Airlines under registration N243NW, until it was acquired for the company of Omni Air International charter flights with the current registration N522AX. The jet was then acquired and converted by 10 Tanker in 2014.
According to aviationline, the National Forestry Company (Conaf) has 63 aircraft at its disposal, including a C-130 from the North American Coulson Aviation, a variety of AT-802 Air Tractors and a CH-47 Chinook heavy helicopter, of which another 10 are from the National Service Prevention and Response to Disasters (Senapred) and 4 that Conaf hired for its role. At the same time, the Chilean Wood Corporation made 60 aircraft available.
A favorite and popular video from the #wildfireseason2022! Footage captured by TJ Maltby while we were working on the #1148Fire in #Texas.#10_tanker #ReadytoServe #TexasFire #firefighting #aerialfirefighting #wildfires #dc10lovers #avgeek #planespotter pic.twitter.com/K2tiv5G5nq
ADVERTISING — 10_Tanker Air Carrier (@Ten_Tanker) January 17, 2023
Despite the huge amount of aircraft available, none of them come close to the capacity of the trijet. With the retirement of Boeing 747 Supertanker, the DC-10 are currently the largest firefighting planes in operation in the world, with the capacity to dump between 35 and 45 liters of water or retardant chemicals, covering an area of 1,5 km long by 90 meters width. The DC-10s have been in this role since 2006.
This is not the first time that the firefighter DC-10 has operated in Chile. In 2019, 10 Tanker was contracted for the first time to contain fires in Concepción and Temuco. On that occasion, aircraft from the Navy, Army and Chilean Air Force served as guides for the discharge of water in the most active areas.
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