THE LORDS OF THE SKY: PILOTS’ AIR ATTACK A CAREFULLY CHOREOGRAPHED DANCE
High above the aircraft fighting the Nelson fires there’s one key crew member coordinating the team, writes Carly Gooch.
In the smoke-filled skies over Nelson, helicopters and planes perform a choreographed dance while attacking the Pigeon Valley fire from above. Aircraft have descended on Nelson from all over the country, fighting the blaze with buckets in tow since Tuesday afternoon.
The pilots remain in constant radio contact, each knowing the next move of every chopper.
‘‘Everybody looks out for everybody,’’ Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter pilot Barry McAuliffe said.
‘‘Most of the guys know each other within the industry,’’ he said.
‘‘You know who you’re following and you stay in that sequence the whole time.’’
Most helicopters carry 800 to 1000 litres per sortie.
Watching the helicopters release the water over the raging fires, it’s easy to wonder how the sprinkle could affect a towering inferno.
Aerial fire-fighting foam is pumped into the buckets, preventing it from evaporating.
Longlines dangle the water buckets 100 to 150 feet below the choppers to keep them away from the debris, trees and smoke.
The water attack strategy varies by location, McAuliffe said.
‘‘If it’s an open grassy area, you do a running drop, keeping moving as we release the water to make the drop spread more and disperse it to a finer mist which is quite effective on the grass areas.’’
Supplies are replenished from forestry or farming dams deep enough to be used, and the better sources are refilled by fire crews.
The helicopters are given direction on which areas of fire to target from a smaller machine observing from above.
It hosts a Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) air attack supervisor.
McAuliffe said the FENZ supervisor had a better view of the overall picture while the waterdropping helicopters focused on their areas.
The pilots warn each other of wires to look out for, the best water sources, and flying conditions around certain areas.
Fire and Emergency incident controller John Sutton said special trucks were brought in on Friday with containers deep enough to take a helicopter’s monsoon bucket.
He said there were no concerns of running out of water.
‘‘We’d use salt water if it was close enough.’’ The helicopters go back and forth a number of times, dunking their buckets and emptying them on the fire, before they are forced to land and refuel.
Their fuel lasts about an hour.
‘‘The guys are generally rostered in and out to manage fatigue.’’
Although the crews on the ground can work through the night, the pilots have limited visibility in the darkness through the smoke and most of the helicopters aren’t compatible with night-vision goggles.
‘‘We’re all experienced pilots and we know what our limits are.
‘‘There are times where it’s not safe to be in an area so we shift; could be due to visibility, wind conditions, could be due to any number of hazards, but it’s all just managed.’’