AT-802 Fire Fighting Aircraft Receives Record Number Contracts from U.S. Bureau of Land Management

American built fire-fighting single engine air tanker wins record contracts from Government to help when record number of large air tankers grounded.

OLNEY, TEXAS (PRWEB) June 10, 2003 -802 single engine air tanker (SEAT) fire fighting aircraft received a record number of exclusive use" contracts from the United States Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior in 2003.

We are pleased that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sees the increasing value of the 800-gallon AT-802 to help fight and control forest fires," said Leland Snow, president of Air Tractor, Inc. Air Tractor manufactures the only American-made aircraft designed specifically to fight forest fires. We know the BLM has a tough job to do and has limited funds in which to protect large areas from devastating wildfires. We are pleased to see our premier aircraft pressed into service to help the BLM and other agencies save our countrys natural resources, the homes, and in some cases lives, of people living in the wildland urban interface areas."

This year the BLM will use the highly praised turbine powered Air Tractor AT-802 aircraft in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. Additional contracts from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) have been let in Arizona, Minnesota and Washington.

Mark Bickham, aviation management specialist and SEAT program manager for the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management said, The AT-802 has proven to be a major asset in our first strike strategy along with other contracted SEAT aircraft." The BLM aviation manager uses single engine air tankers, helicopters and some heavy air tankers in their mix to fight fires as quickly as possible. Because of its speed, maneuverability, and 800-gallon capacity to carry water, foam or fire retardant, the AT-802 is an effective tool in any fire managers arsenal of aerial fire fighting equipment.

We have seen a 300% increase in the use of AT-802 aircraft by the BLM since 1998," Leland Snow said. We believe this is because more and more people are seeing the benefits of the AT-802 as a cost-effective initial attack air tanker. With the continuing drought in much of the western United States, the threat of another large fire season is very real," he continued. The goal of fire fighters is to control these fires in initial attack, and the AT-802 is the aircraft to accomplish that goal."

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