Case Study: USDA Forest Service improves heavy airtanker airframe monitoring with nCode Automation

Flying into the line of fire USDA Forest Service deploys nCode Automation monitoring system

The USDA Forest Service needed a better way to monitor the structural integrity of its heavy airtanker fleet after the NTSB made the agency responsible for aircraft airworthiness. These aging aircraft operate in demanding firefighting missions that can place extreme loads on the airframes, creating a serious safety risk. To address this, the Forest Service turned to nCode and its nCode Automation product.

nCode implemented an automated monitoring system that securely collected, archived, processed, and reported mission data such as acceleration, airspeed, flap positions, landing gear positions, and GPS signals. The system streamlined uploads from aircraft operators, automatically identified maneuvers and maximum loads, and reduced a full set of missions to processing in just a few minutes. According to the Forest Service, nCode Automation was easy to set up and made their work much easier, while also meeting NTSB data retention requirements and supporting future fleet-wide load analysis.

USDA Forest Service

John Nelson

Forest Service Aviation Management Specialist