Vancouver Island company retrofits Boeing 737 into firefighting plane
A well-known aviation company in Port Alberni, B.C., has reached a new height and hosted a celebration on Monday to mark the event.
Coulson Aviation completed the conversion of its third Boeing 737 aircraft into a flying tanker to fight fires, and invited family members of employees who worked on the aircraft to celebrate the achievement.
"Well it's great. Nobody really sees what we do here so when they open the doors like this and have a little barbecue everybody gets to come in and enjoy what we work so hard for," said Danny Stringer, a program manager for Coulson Aviation.
The retrofitted Boeing 737 plane is shown. (CTV News)
Stringer's family attended a family barbecue at the company's Alberni airport location along with many others.
The company purchased six 737's from Southwest Airlines and is converting them all into tankers for fighting fires in international locations.
"It's a very unique airplane," said company co-president Britt Coulson. "This is only the third 737 large air tanker in the world."
"We have two more in behind it ready to be modified and everyone has a lot of pride in the work that they do here, so it's pretty cool to have that family mentality and ownership that they had a piece to manufacture and build," he said.
Family members tour the recently retrofitted Boeing 737 plane. (CTV News)
DESTINED FOR U.S. AND AUSTRALIA
The aircraft will fly to Idaho on Tuesday to get its aviation inspection before being put to work in the U.S.
"It's going to be carded in Idaho and then it will go to work for the United States Forest Service and then this aircraft will run the Lower 48, so wherever there's fires and it's needed it'll go to work" said president and CEO, Wayne Coulson.
Coulson says the aircraft will be used in the U.S. until the end of November before being sent to Australia on a multi-year contract.
Roughly 40,000 hours went into the conversion, plus between 5,000 to 8,000 hours for the tank manufacturing.
Britt Coulson says another aircraft should arrive in Port Alberni within the next two weeks to undergo the same conversion.
"We do very unique programs here where you take something, like an ex-Southwest Airlines 737 [and] fully convert it to something that is unique in the world," he said.
"To be able to see that from conception through manufacture, through installation, through completion, is a pretty unique opportunity and to have all the family members and everyone come out and spend a couple of hours with it is pretty cool," said Coulson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
'We have laws': Premier Smith says police action justified in Calgary
The actions, including the decision to use non-lethal force, to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Calgary campus were justified, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Friday.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.