Australia needs to send “swarms” of aircraft to aggressively attack bushfires early, the aerial firefighting industry says.
Aircraft are consistently sent to fires too late and miss the opportunity for a hard initial attack, Australia’s largest privately-owned helicopter operator says.
“Watching the fire develop when you’re sitting with a helicopter ready to go and attack it is a very frustrating exercise,” McDermott Aviation president John McDermott told the bushfires royal commission.
Having aircraft available for an immediate response or pre-determined dispatch to locations was best practice around the world, industry representatives told the inquiry on Tuesday.
Philip Hurst, CEO of the national industry body representing aerial firefighting operators and pilots, said there should be pre-determined dispatch of aircraft in a “swarm” or “wolf pack”.
South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia already use some form of pre-determined or automatic dispatch.
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