Aerial Firefighting Museum - Greybull, Wyoming
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A sister plane of the one pictured above (PB4Y-2 Tanker # 123) crashed in July 2002 while engaged in firefighting operations in Rocky Mountain National Park. The crash was later determined to be caused by a structural failure when the wing on the left side of the fuselage separated from the aircraft while airborne. Both crewmen were killed in the crash and the FAA temporarily grounded all large air tankers in the region after the crash. Later that year, all remaining PB4Y-2 Privateers were permanently retired from fire fighting duties.
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar
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On display at The Museum of Flight & Aerial Firefighting in Greybull, Wyoming, this C-119 Flying Boxcar was converted from military use to civilian use by companies who were contracted by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management to provide airtankers for fighting wildfires. After a series of crashes, the age and safety of the C-119 being used as airtankers became a serious concern, and the C-119 airtanker fleet was permanently grounded in 1987.
