The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash of a firefighting air tanker during a training flight over a remote California forest on 20 April that killed the three-member crew. The Aero Union-owned Lockheed P-3 Orion crashed immediately after dropping a load of fire retardant, but the cause is still unknown. The crashed P-3 was one of a 33-aircraft fleet of multi-engine air tankers deactivated by the US Forest Service last year due to airworthiness concerns raised by the NTSB.
Source: Flight International
