Six Former Southwest Airlines Jets Will See Service As Fire Fighters

A half-dozen former Southwest Airlines 737-300s are being converted into air tankers by Coulson Aviation, adding to its fleet of rotary- and fixed-wing firefighting aircraft.

According to the blog Fire Aviation, Coulson purchased the low-time airframes from Southwest, which is replacing the -300 airplanes with the 737 MAX. The FAA only allows Southwest pilots to fly two types of aircraft, so the older, yet relatively low-time airplanes needed to go. 

The conversions will turn the airplanes into 4,000 gallon "Fireliner" air tankers. Along with the firefighting equipment, Coulson plans to leave the full interiors and galleys in place, so that passengers can still be carried.  “With a full retardant load and 4.5 hours of fuel we are so far under max gross weight we are going to leave the full interior and galleys in even when just in airtanker mode,” said Britt Coulson, vice president for aviation for Coulson Aviation.

The company has converted three C-130 aircraft for use as firefighters, but finding additional C-130s on the civilian market is difficult, according to the company. The 737s are a bit smaller than the C-130, so they will be able to operate from smaller airports that can't accommodate the C-130.

The 737s will use the same gravity-fed tanks as are installed on the C-130s, according to the company. The first is already out of the Spokane, WA paint shop, and the tanks will be installed next. Coulson said that he expects the first airplane to be completed in December of this year.

FMI: www.coulsongroup.com