10 Tanker donates Jet Engine to college

Aerial firefighting plane operator 10 Tanker Air Carrier recently moved a donated jet engine from hangars at its Albuquerque headquarters to Central New Mexico Community College, School of Applied Technologies. The engine last flew on one of the company’s DC-10 airtankers used for firefighting in the western US and elsewhere.

The company stated that it is currently upgrading to later model DC-10 airframes, and is reducing its reliance on this model engine. 

Rick Hatton, president of 10 Tanker Air Carrier, explained: “Rather than selling the engine, we feel that encouraging education in large aircraft maintenance will be a much better use. We employ graduates from Central New Mexico Community College, and we hope this can strengthen that partnership in the future”.

In late November, 10 Tanker finished work on the 2014 fire season, which was among the busiest the company has had. Hatton stated that three of the company’s DC-10 airtankers will be available for the 2015 fire season.