US senator pushed to cut firefighting aircraft inspections his former company failed

By: Abe Streep, ProPublica

Outlets: Washington State Standard

Published: June 10, 2026

Words: 2,637

Last Updated: 1 day, 12 hours ago

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This article was first published by ProPublica and Re:Public.

A little over a year ago, Sen. Tim Sheehy floated an audacious proposal to reshape the way the federal government fights wildfires. It called for expanding the use of private planes and helicopters to quickly attack blazes while also eliminating the U.S. Forest Service’s rigorous airworthiness inspections for those aircraft.

The idea stood to benefit Sheehy, a Montana Republican, personally. Before running for Congress, …

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