One of the biggest firefighting aircraft in Australia is sitting idle in Perth after it was damaged while being serviced.
The C130 Hercules waterbomber was suspended on a jack outside the Airflite hangar at Perth Airport when a gust of wind caused it to fall.
The left-wing copped the brunt of the damage, grounding one of the world’s most powerful firefighting aircraft and rendering it useless for some weeks as WA heads into the summer bushfire season.
Aircraft operator Coulson Aviation said the repairs should be finished by the end of the month.
On loan from New South Wales after several blazes ripped through the Peel region on November 4, the huge air tanker can carry 15,000 litres of water and travel more than 700km/h.
The Hercules can be at a fire in minutes and was doing so just this week protecting homes in the Pilbara.
It’s the second blow for Coulson Aviation in WA — in February this year, one of its Boeing 737 firefighting jets crashed in Fitzgerald National Park, near Esperance.
The aircraft was destroyed but the crew miraculously escaped without serious injury.
It comes just weeks after WA’s aerial firefighting fleet was brought online early in response to the out-of-control bushfires that broke out a fortnight ago.
At least four fixed-wing waterbombers, 65 fire trucks and more than 100 career and volunteer firefighters were deployed to fight one of the major blazes, in Nambeelup, with dry, windy conditions making it more difficult to contain.
Three evacuation centres were opened in Mandurah, Pinjarra and Byford, and Peel Health Campus was on ambulance bypass — ready to evacuate if required.