Neptune Aviation‘s BAe 146-200 air tanker N146FF ‘Tanker 40’ (msn E2049) received a new contract from the US Forest Service, covering the period from 26 May to 5 October. Tanker 40 returned from a C Check at Tronos base in Summerside on 26 February. Since then, she has flown a series of local flights aimed at perfecting her drop system. Immediately following the contract award, Tanker 40 left Neptune’s base at Missoula base for Albuquerque, to help fight the Whitewater-Baldy fire in western New Mexico, which has already burned almost 35,000 ha. Neptune hopes to add more 146 tankers this year. The company was forced to ground one of its Lockheed P2V tankers earlier this year due to a cracked wing spar, reducing its active fleet of the type to eight.
Recent news items on Neptune Aviation:
- More Neptune BAe 146 air tankers activated (2019-07-25)
- More Neptune BAe 146 air tankers back in action (2019-05-25)
- Neptune BAe 146 air tanker makes first drop of 2019 fire season (2019-03-09)
- Last Neptune tankers come home (2018-12-02)
- Neptune BAe 146 air tankers return home for Thanksgiving (2018-11-25)