Get your free trial of MagellanTV here: [ Ссылка ]. It's an exclusive offer for our viewers: a month-long trial, FREE. MagellanTV is a new kind of streaming service run by filmmakers with 3,000+ documentaries!
In 2002, the United States was facing one of the worst wildfire seasons in the last half-century.
Hundreds of thousands of acres burned in Colorado. Aside from brave firefighters, the U.S Forest Service depended on a 33-aircraft fleet to combat the fires. But two fatal accidents grounded the fleet, leaving the country without airpower to deploy against the ruthless flames.
The Boeing 747 SuperTanker was explicitly built to fill in and save the day. Initially a passenger plane, it was modified by Evergreen International Aviation to become the world's largest fire extinguisher.
This massive air tanker can carry almost 20,000 gallons of fire retardant and spread it across an area as big as a football field. The company also claims that the Supertanker is so fast that it can reach any point in the world in less than 20 hours.
Since its inception, the 747 has fought fires in Colorado and California. The Supertanker has also helped extinguish massive forest fires in Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, and Israel.
Although the jumbo jet was grounded for a couple of years due to Evergreen's serious financial difficulties, it managed to return to operations. Nowadays, it's one of the most potent human tools against the wildfires that afflict the world year after year.
Ещё видео!