WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board wants improved safety standards for the tanker aircraft used in fighting forest fires, USA Today reports.
The board said poor maintenance and inadequate oversight are behind three crashes in 1994 and 2002 that killed eight people.
The country has 33 firefighting tanker planes, most of them retired from military service. Nine private firms operate them under contract with the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of the Interior.
A NASA study found because of unusual maneuvering demands, firefighting planes are 1,000 times more likely than airliners to experience severe stress on wings and other areas of the plane.
Wings broke off tanker planes on June 17, 2002, in Walker, Calif., and on July 18, 2002, in Estes Park, Colo.
The NTSB call comes as firefighters face a wildfire season that could be the worst in half a century, the newspaper said.
