page_title: Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer
section_title: Privateers in aerial firefighting
hierarchical_section_title: Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer / Operational history / Privateers in aerial firefighting
caption_attribution_description: A Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer (BuNo 66261) of the U.S. National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida (USA). It was accepted by the U.S. Navy on 14 September 1945 and almost immediately placed in long term storage at Naval Air Facility Litchfield Park, Arizona. Returned to service in 1952 and redesignated a P4Y-2G, the aircraft was assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard, initially operating with the Coast Guard Air Detachments at Midway Islands until transferred to the Coast Guard Air Detachment at Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, in 1953. From 1957 it was assigned to the Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco, California. It was sold and served on the ground to be used for spare parts to support other Privateers flying as aerial tankers to fight forest fires. In the early 1980s Hawkins and Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming, decided to return the aircraft to flying condition and made the decision to donate it to the then Naval Aviation Museum, where it arrived in 1983.
context_page_description: The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer is an American World War II and Korean War era patrol bomber of the United States Navy derived from the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The Navy had been using B-24s with only minor modifications as the PB4Y-1 Liberator, and along with maritime patrol Liberators used by RAF Coastal Command this type of patrol plane was proven successful. A fully navalized design was desired, and Consolidated developed a dedicated long-range patrol bomber in 1943, designated PB4Y-2 Privateer. In 1951, the type was redesignated P4Y-2 Privateer. A further designation change occurred in September 1962, when the remaining Navy Privateers were redesignated QP-4B.
context_section_description: A limited number of refitted PB4Ys and P4Ys continued in civilian service as airtankers, dropping fire retardant on forest fires throughout the western United States. On 18 July 2002, one such refitted P4Y, BuNo 66260 (seen in picture to right) operated by Hawkins and Powers Aviation of Greybull, Wyoming broke up in flight while fighting a wildfire near Rocky Mountain National Park. Both crew members were killed in the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded all large air tankers in the region. Despite the fact that the crash was the result of poor maintenance, and a much newer C-130 based aircraft also broke apart due to similar stresses, all remaining Privateers were retired. (See 2002 United States airtanker crashes.)
caption: PB4Y-2 BuNo 66261 (marked as BuNo 66304) in the collection of the National Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
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