Coulson Aviation

Coulson Aviation is an aviation company headquartered in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. The company's fleet specialises in air tankers used for aerial firefighting.[1] It operates in Canada, the United States, Australia and Chile.[2]

The company operates both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. The company's operations included helicopter logging, forest fire suppression, power-line construction, airliner passenger, transport, and other industrial heavy lift operations. Coulson Aviation (USA) Inc. is a subsidiary of Coulson Aircrane Ltd. Coulson Aviation contract rotary and fixed-wing aircraft to Australia and the US from Canada.[3]


Active fleet

Coulson Aviation currently has 21 aircraft (excluding business jets) active as of July 20, 2024

Fixed wing aircraft

Fire bombers

Lockheed C-130 Hercules
  • Bomber 130 (C130H)
  • Bomber 131 (EC130Q) (N131CG)
  • Bomber 132 (C130H) (N132CG)
  • Bomber 133 (C130H) (N140CG)
  • Bomber 136 (C130H) (N136CG)
  • Bomber 138 (C130H) (N382CG)
Boeing 737

Command and control aircraft

Cessna Citation

Coulson also operates a further two Citations in Australia on behalf of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service:[5]

Rotary wing aircraft

Coulson Aviation currently has 17 Rotary wing aircraft in service (as of July 20, 2024

CH-47 Chinook

Coulson also operates a Chinook in Australia on behalf of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service:[6]

Sikorsky S-76

Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk

Sikorsky S-61

Bell 412

Coulson also operates two helicopters in Australia on behalf of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service:[7]

Previous fleet

Coulson Aviation previously operated two Martin Mars flying boats, the Philippine Mars and Hawaii Mars.

Past deployments

On 5 December 2022 Coulson aviation sent one of its C130Hs to Busselton Regional Airport as part of a 4-year firefighting contract. The aircraft did weekly equipment tests.[8]

Accidents

In 2020, a Coulson Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed while aerial firefighting for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service during Australia's black summer bushfires, resulting in the deaths of three American firefighters.[9] The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) determined the cause of the collision was likely due to the dangerous weather conditions, low-level wind shear and an increased tailwind, leading to the aircraft stalling while releasing fire retardant foam at a low height and airspeed and colliding with terrain.

In 2023, a Boeing 737-300 aircraft known as Bomber 139 and operated by Coulson Aviation crashed in the Fitzgerald River National Park in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia while fighting multiple fires.[10] The cause of the crash was the pilots dumping fire retardant below the minimum altitude. The final report was published by the ATSB on 6th of November 2024.

References

  1. ^ "Coulson Aviation to bring another C-130 airtanker online this summer". Skies Magazine. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Coulson Aviation extends aerial firefighting support with new contracts in Chile". Skies Mag. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  3. ^ Collision with terrain involving Lockheed Martin EC-130Q, N134CG (PDF) (Report). Australian Transport Safety Bureau. 29 August 2022. p. 38. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Legislative Council - Home Business Papers - 7318 - Police and Emergency Services - LARGE AIR TANKER". Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  5. ^ a b "Coulson Aviation and New South Wales Government Secure Deal to Purchase Coulson Fireliner with 10 Year Operational Contract" (Press release). Vancouver, BC: Coulson Aviation USA. 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  6. ^ "New contract for RFS aerial fleet building home-grown talent". www.rfs.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 2025-03-09.
  7. ^ "NSW RFS Aviation Communiqué #24 - April 2020". New South Wales Rural Fire Service. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  8. ^ "COULSON AVIATION". COULSON AVIATION. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  9. ^ Mellis, Eilidh; Bungard, Matt (2020-01-23). "Three dead as air tanker fighting bushfires crashes near Snowy Mountains". WAtoday. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  10. ^ Myles, Cameron (2023-02-06). "Plane crashes as firefighters battle blaze in WA's south". WAtoday. Retrieved 2023-02-06.

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (license statement/permission). Text taken from Collision with terrain involving Lockheed EC130Q, N134CG, 50 km north-east of Cooma-Snowy Mountains Airport (near Peak View), New South Wales, on 23 January 2020​, Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

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