Fire Suppression

Kennedy Air Ag provide aerial fire suppression services to State and Federal Government agencies utilising fixed-wing Air Tractor aircraft and a fleet of ground support vehicles including Jet A1 Tanker trucks and fire retardant/suppressant tankers. Through careful planning and co-operation with government fire fighting agencies and volunteer organisations, we have been able to provide safe, efficient and effective aerial fire suppression services over a wide range of bushlands, coastal heath, alpine mountains and grasslands in rugged Australian landscape.

Sometimes known as aerial firebombing or aerial firefighting, we utilise a range of techniques and suppressant products to attempt to slow the progress of bushfires. The aircraft are all equipped with computer controlled load delivery systems (also known as "Bomb Doors") which can split it into several loads. Our experienced pilots can also select the coverage level of suppressant required to be dropped via the cockpit interface computer to provide the most effective use of the suppressant material for the particular fire situation.

As bushfires most commonly occur in the hotter months, it is very rare that water alone is dropped on a fire as it does not have the longevity to provide an effective suppression. Consequently the aircraft are usually loaded with water mixed with a foam product or a retardant powder to provide greatery efficacy of the application. Recently our aircraft were used for trials of a Gel product which is mixed with water to give a suppressant capability.