A new report says a plane equipped with advanced sensors for deployment to chemical disasters could have helped authorities avoid needlessly blowing open five rail tank cars and burning their chemicals after the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.

The EPA's internal watchdog will investigate why the agency didn’t get its specialized plane loaded with advanced sensors into the air over East Palestine until four days after the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment last year.

The U.S. government has a specialized plane loaded with advanced sensors that the EPA brags is always ready to deploy within an hour of any kind of chemical disaster.