World’s largest firefighting plane leaves service ahead of US wildfire season

A Boeing 747-400 Global SuperTanker drops half a load of its 19,400-gallon capacity (Christian Murdock/AP)

The world’s largest firefighting plane has been shut down just as western US states prepare for a wildfire season that fire officials fear could be worse than the average year.

Tara Lee, a spokeswoman for Washington governor Jay Inslee, said via email on Friday that the state’s Department of Natural Resources was alerted to the shutdown of the world’s largest firefighting plane called the Global SuperTanker.