By Steve Geissinger
Contra Costa Times
Copyright 2007 Contra Costa Newspapers
All Rights Reserved

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The new, largely experimental supertanker, a wide-body jetliner converted to an aerial firefighting aircraft and placed on call for the state this year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, suffered a near crash Monday evening fighting a blaze in Kern County.

The California Department of Forestry issued a statement that the DC-10 had been grounded and cannot assist in the blazes currently ravaging California until completion of an investigation. Officials provided no timeline for the probe.

Tanker 910 encountered severe turbulence while operating on the White Fire, causing the aircraft to descend and strike the top of several trees.

The flight crew was able to apply power and fly out of the turbulence and safely return to their base at Victorville. There were no injuries to the flight crew or anyone on the ground.

The aircraft was flying in the area of Bison peak, south of Tehachapi.

The investigation of the close call will include a complete structural probe of the aircraft. It will remain on the ground until the investigation is concluded.

As part of an executive order May 10, Schwarzenegger told state officials to arrange "for immediate availability and utilization" of the new plane, which became the first such aircraft to battle a blaze last July in San Bernardino County.

Use of the supertanker also was intended to make up for the reduction in U.S. Forest Service firefighting planes, following retirement of aging military-surplus aircraft without any ready replacements.

The giant tanker can drop a flood of 12,000 gallons of retardant on fairly level ground -- 10 times the amount spewed from the more numerous, familiar and agile state-owned S-2 turboprop air tankers.

It can be used, for instance, to build a buffer of retardant between a fire and a community, allowing ground crews to get into position for containing the blaze.

The privately owned and operated DC-10, based at the former George Air Force Base near Victorville, is a converted American Airlines jetliner jointly developed by Oklahoma-based Omni Air International and Cargo Conversions LLC in San Carlos.