10-04-2025
U.S. Senate passes Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich (D) and a local company are praising the passage of a bill to keep firefighting planes in the skies. The United States Senate cleared the Aerial Firefighting Enhancement Act, which reauthorizes the Defense Department to sell excess planes to be used as suppression tankers, as well as aircraft parts to maintain fleets.
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The bill reauthorizes an earlier act passed back in 1996, but that lapsed in 2005 and again in 2017. Joel Kerley, the owner of Albuquerque-based 10 Tanker, said airplane parts are in short supply right now. 'We need parts and pieces to keep these airplanes going, and the world market has completely dried up. There is nothing available for us to replace engines, thrust reversers, landing gears, things like that,' said Kerley.
Sen. Heinrich said, 'We knew we couldn't wait on a couple of years for a bureaucratic process to work its way out. We want all of these tools in the toolbox for this fire season.'
The bill now heads to the House for its approval.
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