The British Columbia Wildfire Service has turned to Abbotsford's Conair Group Inc. to fight fires this summer, with the company's new two Daher TBM
960 Air Attack aircraft deployed for the upcoming season.
BCWS is the first government wildfire agency in the world to adopt this new aircraft type, which Conair purchased and modernized earlier this year.
The aircraft received a supplemental type certificate (STC) and airworthiness certification from Transport Canada, which led to the go-ahead for deployment. They will be dispatched to fly continuously over wildfires, monitoring fire activity, assessing risk and strategizing airtanker drops. They are often referred to as birddogs or lead planes in the industry.
Daher is based in France and was originally founded as a shipping company in 1863. They expanded to include energy, transportation and then nuclear power throughout the 20th century. Recent years has seen the aerospace sector become the primary revenue generator for the company and they work with aviation companies all over the world. They reportedly have 13,000 employees and had revenues of $1.8 billion in 2024.
Conair has certified 16 different aircraft types for aerial firefighting in the past 56 years, converting more than 200 individual aircraft.
The Daher TBM 960 was selected for its performance, design standards, safety features, reliability and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) support by Daher. It has been retrofitted by Conair with specialized avionics and equipment specific to wildfire operations before deploying to provide tactical and strategic direction to aerial firefighting aircraft over wildfires.
Daher representatives said they are pleased that the aircraft can help out.
“Our teams supported the rapid-paced conversion and certification process, and Conair can count on the full resources of Daher as these airplanes perform their vital wildfire air attack duties.”
In each aircraft is a government agency air attack officer and a Conair pilot. The AAO communicates with all pilots, rotary and fixed-wing, as well as all ground crews, ensuring safe and effective aerial firefighting operations. The fire experts in this command-and-control aircraft work to slow down and contain extreme wildfires, ensuring aircraft drops are strategically placed for the best results given the terrain, fuel type, wind, weather and aerial response available.
The idea behind acquiring the TMB 960 is that the TC-690 fleet is aging out and parts are difficult to find. The TC-690 fleet is now more than 50 years old and modernization was required.
"Our TC-690 fleet is 50-plus years old and although a great aircraft for the birddog role, parts are becoming hard to find, and maintenance overhaul costs and time are increasing," added Benson. "We are proactively modernizing the fleet with this new TBM 960 to ensure continued aerial firefighting operations. Currently Conair operates birddogs in British Columbia, the Yukon and Alberta, but we could see this market expand, introducing TBM Air Attack capabilities to new customer agencies around the world."
For more on the company, visit conair.ca.
