THREE DEAD IN AIR CRASH
FIREFIGHTING PLANE DOWN
IT was with little room for error that the three heroic American hero firefighters had been flying up to eight fire-bombing missions a day before their C-130 Hercules crashed in a fireball yesterday.
The highly skilled crew had battled hot turbulent winds as they manoeuvred the massive air tanker full of 15,000 litres of water and fire retardant just a few hundred feet off the ground protecting lives, wildlife and homes.
Remembered yesterday among the devastated tight-knit firefighting family as a “remarkable, well respected crew”, they had dumped over two million litres of water and fire retardant on the state’s ceaseless summer bushfires since they arrived on November 5 and flew more than 130 missions since December 1.
The tragedy came as Canberra Airport was in limited operation due to low visibility from fires and smoke and the return of temperatures into the 40s resulted in seven bushfires being elevated to emergency warning level across NSW and the ACT.
The air tanker called Zeus was fighting two emergency level fires in the Snowy Monaro region after taking off from RAAF Richmond at 12.05pm when it lost contact with ground crews around 1.45pm, 16 minutes before it was due to land.
The wreckage was found by defence force and RFS helicopters close to Peak View, north-east of Cooma. The impact was so forceful it created a fireball on impact and emergency services could only find the tail of the aircraft still intact.
The crew was with the privately owned North American company, Coulson Aviation, which has been working with the RFS for the last five years.
“They’re absolute professionals,” Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.
“The firefighting fraternity is a tight-knit family, a fairly small family and the crew on board were well known.
“Our hearts are with all those that are suffering what is the loss of three remarkable, well respected crew that have invested so many decades of their life into firefighting and fire management.”
A response team from Coulson Aviation is on its way to Australia.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the three crew members on board,” the company said in a statement.