A challenging aspect to wildland firefighting is managing the array of large airtankers and the array of helicopters that work to support the ground firefighters. In 2004, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) informed the Forest Service that they were responsible for the airworthiness of the heavy airtankers instead of the contractors with FAA oversight. With the need for more structural integrity monitoring of the airframes in the heavy airtanker fleet, the Forest Service used nCode Automation from nCode International to help them do just that…