C - 130 Aircraft crashed killing all three pilots onboard
Shares
*MELBOURNE/SYDNEY: *A Canadian-owned C-130 Hercules air tanker crashed while fighting bushfires in Australia’s alpine region on Thursday, killing all three of its crew, authorities said.
All three victims were American residents, Australian authorities said, adding that they did not immediately know why the plane crashed as it was carrying a load of fire retardant.
“Tragically, there appears to be no survivors as a result of the crash down in the Snowy Monaro area,” said Shane Fitzsimmons, the Rural Fire Services Commissioner for New South Wales state.
“(The tanker) impacted heavily with the ground and initial reports are that there was a large fireball associated with the impact of the plane as it hit the ground. There is no indication at this stage of what’s caused the accident.”
A spokesman for Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority said that the aircraft went into a valley to drop the retardant and didn’t come out.
Fitzsimmons said the plane had been leased by Canadian aerial firefighting company Coulson Aviation, which had a second C-130 Hercules working in the Australian bushfires operation.
