Nearly seven years after plans to gift two army helicopters to the NSW Rural Fire Service were unveiled, the Black Hawks still can’t be used for their original task of flying firefighters to floods, bushfires and other disasters.
The RFS said it decided to go ahead with spending millions on refurbishing the two Black Hawks after a “verbal agreement” from the nation’s air safety regulator to work together to obtain necessary certifications.
One of the Black Hawks has recently been painted in Rural Fire Service colours.Credit: NSW Rural Fire Service
Because the decades-old helicopters were designed for the military, there are restrictions under federal law on them being used to fly civilian passengers.
Even if they were now operational, the RFS would be unable to use them to fly personnel to northern NSW to help in the response to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The Defence Force handed the two Black Hawks to the RFS in October 2023, four years later than planned due to operational requirements. The Turnbull government unveiled plans to gift the helicopters in mid-2018.
The RFS is now spending about $6.5 million refurbishing and certifying the helicopters, and it expects them to become operational in the coming months.
However, restrictions on using the Black Hawks to fly emergency service personnel to bushfires, floods and other disasters mean they will mainly be used as water bombers until a breakthrough can be reached in the long-running saga to have the limits removed.
The RFS said a key factor in the decision to proceed with the Black Hawk project was the verbal agreement from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
“This assurance provided confidence that the aircraft could be integrated into operations in a way that meets all regulatory requirements,” it said.
“The RFS remains committed to working closely with CASA to achieve full certification for all mission profiles currently undertaken by our existing aircraft, including firefighter transportation and rescue operations.”
The Turnbull government promised in 2018 to gift two Black Hawk helicopters to the RFS.Credit: Wade Laube
Emails have previously revealed that RFS commissioner Rob Rogers asked CASA as far back as late 2018 to confirm there were no “showstoppers” with the Black Hawks from a “regulation point of view”.
Months later, Rogers told CASA in an email that he needed to “understand we can work through the issues” before accepting a helicopter and committing NSW government funds. A key aim of the helicopters for the RFS was to use them to fly firefighters to remote areas to be on standby for lightning strikes.
CASA said it had consistently advised that the Black Hawks did not meet civil aviation safety standards for passenger transport.
“This is consistent with the approach taken in the United States, where the Black Hawk is manufactured and certified,” it said.
“We are currently working with the NSW Rural Fire Service on their application to use the Black Hawk for specialist firefighting operations not involving transport of firefighters. Anything beyond that would require significant work and regulatory change to ensure safety standards are appropriate.”
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