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]

Coulson Aviation base on Sproat Lake

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

Air Tankers

Tanker 133 at Rogers Field, Chester CA

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

• Tanker 130 (C130H)
• Tanker 131 (EC130Q) (N131CG)
• Tanker 132 (C130H) (N132CG)
• Tanker 133 (C130H) (N140CG)
• Tanker 136 (C130H) (N136CG)
• Tanker 138 (C130H) (N382CG)

Boeing 737

• Tanker 137 (737-3H4) (N137CG)
• Tanker 210 (737-3H4) (N138CG) - also known as 'Marie Bashir'.^[4] This aircraft was purchased in 2019 by the Australian New South Wales Rural Fire Service^[5] and is operated under contract by Coulson.

Command and control aircraft

Cessna Citation

• N1200N (Cessna 550 Citation II)
• N554CG (Cessna 550 Citation II)
• N550CG (Cessna 550 Citation II)
• N552CG (Cessna 550 Citation II)

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

• Fire Scan 200 (VH-VJT) (Cessna 560 Citation V)
• Fire Scan 201 (VH-VJO) (Cessna 560 Citation V)

Rotary wing aircraft

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

CH-47 Chinook

• HeliTanker 47 (N47CU) (CH-47D Chinook)
• HeliTanker 55 (N43CU) (CH-47D Chinook)

• N49CU (CH-47D Chinook)

• N40CU (CH-47D Chinook)

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

• HeliTak 211 (N49CU) (CH-47D Chinook)

Sikorsky S-76

• N509HH (Sikorsky S-76B)

Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk

• HeliTanker 60 (N60CU) (Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk)
• N745AW (Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk)

Sikorsky S-61

• N745AW (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)
• N476AW (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)
• N471WR (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)
• HeliTanker 47 (N161CG) (Sikorsky S-61N)
• HeliTanker 61 (N261CG) (Sikorsky S-61N)
• HeliTak 348 (C-FXEC) (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)

Bell 412

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

• HeliTak 203 (VH-VJD) (Bell 412EP)
• HeliTak 204 (VH-VJF) (Bell 412EP)

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 Tanker 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.