The C-130A is a very old plane. The C-130 is prone to wing box cracks, and when fully loaded has some pretty high manuvering limitations. Most of the fire drop companies, using the C-130, are not well versed in the maintenance requirements, nor do they have pilots who are well trained in the planes. Most of these planes were "A" models re-engined to "E" models, and were pulled out of mothballs without much of a going over. These are good old work horses, with a long and excellent career, but they are high maintenance also; without the proper systems, and inspections, you don't want to be operating them.
The plane that broke up in California was exceeding its operating limits for load, speed, and manuverability. The rule of thumb for fire work is to get there as fast as you can, and get back the same way. Radar that observed this plane showed it was going too fast for the load. C-130s operated by cargo lines, have had the wing box relaced, some of them as many as 4 times; this is very costly, and most likely outside of the financial ability of most fire supression companies. I don't think the Herc that landed on a carrier was in anything except tip top condition.
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The C-130A is a very old plane. The C-130 is prone to wing box cracks, and when fully loaded has some pretty high manuvering limitations. Most of the fire drop companies, using the C-130, are not well versed in the maintenance requirements, nor do they have pilots who are well trained in the planes. Most of these planes were "A" models re-engined to "E" models, and were pulled out of mothballs without much of a going over. These are good old work horses, with a long and excellent career, but they are high maintenance also; without the proper systems, and inspections, you don't want to be operating them. The plane that broke up in California was exceeding its operating limits for load, speed, and manuverability. The rule of thumb for fire work is to get there as fast as you can, and get back the same way. Radar that observed this plane showed it was going too fast for the load. C-130s operated by cargo lines, have had the wing box relaced, some of them as many as 4 times; this is very costly, and most likely outside of the financial ability of most fire supression companies. I don't think the Herc that landed on a carrier was in anything except tip top condition.