Hail damages supertanker in Colorado Springs

Damage from a recent hailstorm is why a new firefighting resource isn’t being used to combat numerous wildfires in Colorado.

The B747-400 SuperTanker had been parked at the Colorado Springs Airport since it arrived May 5 and had remained outside because the airport has no hangar large enough to hold it.

A hailstorm last week damaged the craft and the decision was made to move it to a maintenance facility near Tucson, Arizona, to be repaired before it could be damaged further by a another storm, said a spokesman for the owner, Global SuperTanker Services, LLC, based in Colorado Springs.

The spokesman said the tanker still has not been certified for duty by the Federal Aviation Administration and cannot bid for a contract with the U.S. Forest Service until the certification process is finished.

The tanker is considered a state-of-the-art aerial firefighting resource and is able to discharge 20,000 gallons of water or retardant at once — twice the capacity of the next largest tanker, according to the company’s website.