Fires hamper bid to retrieve plane dead
Australia mourns US heroes, probe begins
MELBOURNE: Australian officials were working yesterday to extricate the bodies of three US firefighters from a plane that crashed in remote bushland, as the area’s “active” bushfire status complicated an investigation into the accident.
Officials said it was still too early to speculate on the cause of the crash of the C-130 Hercules tanker plane on Thursday, killing its entire crew, just after it dumped a large load of retardant on a huge wildfire in a national park.
“We are very much into the evidence gathering phase of the investigation,” Greg Hood, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which is leading the investigation, told reporters. “We will not be speculating.”
However, he added that “we have nothing to suggest there was a systemic fault” when asked if he believed other aircraft in use were safe.
Coulson Aviation, the private Canadian firm that owned the plane and employed its crew, revealed yesterday that all three were former members of the United States military with extensive flight experience: Captain Ian H McBeth, 44, First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, and Flight Engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr, 43.
Firefighters in Australia held a minute’s silence and flags on official buildings in New South Wales (NSW) state, where the plane crashed, were flown at half-mast as a mark of respect yesterday.
“We will forever be indebted to the enormous contribution and indeed the ultimate sacrifice that’s been paid as a result of these extraordinary individuals doing a remarkable job,” NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.
He was speaking at a farewell near Sydney airport for 32 US firefighters who were returning home after weeks on duty on Australia.
ATSB investigators had to be escorted to the one-kilometre long crash site by firefighters yesterday and police were still in the process of securing the area, Mr Hood said.
Little of the plane was intact and potential hazards included aviation fuel and unexploded pressurised canisters, he added.
Mr Hood said the ATSB expected to retrieve the plane’s black box cockpit voice recorder, use a drone to 3D map the site, analyse both air traffic control and the plane’s data and review the weather at the time of the crash. “We understand there were several witnesses to the accident,” he said. “We hope that some of the witness statements will actually be able to shed light on the sequence of events following the dropping of the retardant.”
A team from Coulson Aviation was due to arrive in Australia today, along with the aircraft history and maintenance records.
The plane crash took the death toll for Australia’s devastating bushfire season to 32, including eight firefighters. The wildfires have also killed millions of animals, razed thousands of homes and destroyed a land area about one-third the size of Germany since September.