You're right, bluelake. You're not qualified to comment, and don't know what you're talking about. None, not one of the companies played a role in grounding the tankers. You're referring to the two losses by H&P of T-130 and T-123 within three weeks of each other (and the fact that Aero Union went overboard in fingerpointing).
Truth is that every company was evaluated by Sandia, as was the entire national program, and it passed with recommendations. All recommendations were met. USFS imposed a second round with Dyncorp, and most operators passed with flying colors...those areas that didn't were fixed post haste or improved upon to meet the new evaluations.
What LED to the groundings was politics. Pure and simple. The people who did the damage, or at least one key player, Tony Kern, have bailed ship. For cushy two hundred thousand dollar plus jobs in think tanks. Others who should be drawn and quartered, such as Dale Bosworth, are still where they can do damage.
Tony Kern expressed his interest in doing the extreme damage he did before he entered into the industry, while he was still teaching at the US Air Force Academy. I discussed his thinking then, and told him over lunch one day that I disagreed, that he had no concept of the industry, it's needs or demands, and should stay out until he did. He came back as a politician and wreaked havoc, just as I said he would. At the time, certain tanker companies were courting him as a safety advisor. He was full of garbage then, and is now.
