# Coulson Aviation

Coulson Aviation is an aviation company headquartered in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. The company's fleet specialises in air tankers used for aerial firefighting. It operates in Canada, the United States, Australia and Chile.
The company operates both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. The company's operations included helicopter logging, forest fire suppression, power-line construction, airliner passenger, transport, and other industrial heavy lift operations. Coulson Aviation (USA) Inc. is a subsidiary of Coulson Aircrane Ltd. Coulson Aviation contract rotary and fixed-wing aircraft to Australia and the US from Canada.

## Active fleet

Coulson Aviation currently has 21 aircraft (excluding business jets) active as of July 20, 2024

### Fixed wing aircraft
#### Fire bombers
##### Lockheed C-130 Hercules

* Bomber 130 (C130H)
* Bomber 131 (EC130Q) (N131CG)
* Bomber 132 (C130H) (N132CG)
* Bomber 133 (C130H) (N140CG)
* Bomber 136 (C130H) (N136CG)
* Bomber 138 (C130H) (N382CG)

##### Boeing 737

* Bomber 137 (737-3H4) (N137CG)
* Bomber 210 (737-3H4) (N138CG) - also known as 'Marie Bashir'. This aircraft was purchased in 2019 by the Australian New South Wales Rural Fire Service and is operated under contract by Coulson.

#### Command and control aircraft
##### Cessna Citation

* N1200N (Cessna 550 Citation II)
* N554CG (Cessna 550 Citation II)
* N550CG (Cessna 550 Citation II)
* N552CG (Cessna 550 Citation II)
Coulson also operates a further two Citations in Australia on behalf of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service:
* Fire Scan 200 (VH-VJT) (Cessna 560 Citation V)
* Fire Scan 201 (VH-VJO) (Cessna 560 Citation V)

### Rotary wing aircraft

Coulson Aviation currently has 17 Rotary wing aircraft in service (as of July 20, 2024

#### CH-47 Chinook

* HeliTanker 47 (N47CU) (CH-47D Chinook)
* HeliTanker 55 (N43CU) (CH-47D Chinook)
* N49CU (CH-47D Chinook)
* N40CU (CH-47D Chinook)
Coulson also operates a Chinook in Australia on behalf of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service:
* HeliTak 211 (N49CU) (CH-47D Chinook)

#### Sikorsky S-76

* N509HH (Sikorsky S-76B)

#### Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk

* HeliTanker 60 (N60CU) (Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk)
* N745AW (Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawk)

#### Sikorsky S-61

* N745AW (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)
* N476AW (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)
* N471WR (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)
* HeliTanker 47 (N161CG) (Sikorsky S-61N)
* HeliTanker 61 (N261CG) (Sikorsky S-61N)
* HeliTak 348 (C-FXEC) (Sikorsky S-61N Mk. II)

#### Bell 412

Coulson also operates two helicopters in Australia on behalf of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service:
* HeliTak 203 (VH-VJD) (Bell 412EP)
* HeliTak 204 (VH-VJF) (Bell 412EP)

## Previous fleet

Coulson Aviation previously operated two Martin Mars flying boats, the Philippine Mars and Hawaii Mars.

## Past deployments

On 5 December 2022 Coulson aviation sent one of its C130Hs to Busselton Regional Airport as part of a 4-year firefighting contract. The aircraft did weekly equipment tests.

## Accidents

In 2020, a Coulson Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft crashed while aerial firefighting for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service during Australia's black summer bushfires, resulting in the deaths of three American firefighters. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) determined the cause of the collision was likely due to the dangerous weather conditions, low-level wind shear and an increased tailwind, leading to the aircraft stalling while releasing fire retardant foam at a low height and airspeed and colliding with terrain.
In 2023, a Boeing 737-300 aircraft known as Bomber 139 and operated by Coulson Aviation crashed in the Fitzgerald River National Park in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia while fighting multiple fires. The cause of the crash was the pilots dumping fire retardant below the minimum altitude. The final report was published by the ATSB on 6th of November 2024.