France’s Conair group delivered the first aircraft of a total order of six Dash 8-Q400MR air tankers to France’s Sécurité Civile agency, charged with protecting France from wildfire threats from the air. Conair has held a long term contract for procurement, management and maintenance of the Sécurité Civile fleet since 2005.
Conair sourced the original airframes from Bombardier aircraft before completing a conversion into the Q400MR variant that is capable of firefighting missions and rapid transport of passengers, such as wildland firefighters when needed, or can additionally be configured for air medical evacuation to evacuate multiple critical care patients to a trauma facility. Each aircraft is capable of dropping 2,600 gallons of retardant, foam, or water dependent on mission.
