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Probe begins into deadly crash of firefighting tanker in Australia
SYDNEY, Jan 24, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Investigators Friday began searching the
wreckage of a large tanker aircraft which crashed while battling devastating
bushfires in Australia, killing three US crew members.
The C-130 Hercules plane slammed into the ground Thursday shortly after
dropping a load of fire retardant on a blaze in the Snowy Mountains region of
southeastern New South Wales (NSW) state.
The plane burst into a fireball on impact and debris were strewn over a
kilometre-long stretch of land, with little of the large aircraft left
intact, NSW police superintendant Paul Condon told a press conference near
the site.
Greg Hood, chief of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said it
would be “premature” to speculate on the cause of the crash, but he noted
that strong winds had raked much of the fire zones of southeastern Australia
Thursday.
“We will be working with the Australian bureau of meteorology specifically
to look at the temperature, the wind direction and the impact that may have
had on the aircraft,” he said.
“We have nothing to suggest there was a systemic fault” with the C-130,
which was contracted to the firefighting effort by Canadian firm Coulson
Aviation, he said.
Hood said several people who witnessed the crash would also be questioned.
Coulson earlier Friday identified the three US crew members who perished
as Captain Ian H. McBeth, 44, First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, and Flight
Engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr, 43.
Their bodies have been found and were expected to be removed from the
crash site later Friday, police said.
Officials from Coulson Aviation were due to arrive in Australia Saturday
to join the investigation.
The ATSB said the crash site was in an active fire zone and investigators
would need the help of police and firefighters to access the site.
The C-130 was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, which has yet to be
recovered, and investigators will also listen to air traffic control
recordings, Hood said.
The crewmen’s deaths brought the toll in Australia’s bushfire crisis to 32
since September.
There are currently 243 US firefighters helping battle the Australian
blazes, mainly in the country on 30-day rotations.
– More firefighters injured –
Six volunteer Australian firefighters were also injured when a water truck
rolled near the fire-threatened town of Batemans Bay, on the state’s south
coast, on Thursday night.
Firefighters had been battling dangerous blazes Thursday, as strong winds
and temperatures reaching above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit)
sparked new fires across Australia’s southeast before conditions eased
Friday.
Another heatwave is forecast for next week and could fuel a new flare-up
of wildfires.
With the respite from active fires in many areas this week, a key concern
is helping wildlife who survived the flames but now face starvation in the
barren wastelands left behind.
Wildlife experts say hundreds of millions of animals likely perished in
the blazes, which have burned more than 10 million hectares (25 million
acres) of land.
On South Australia’s Kangaroo Island, one of the country’s richest and
most unique wildlife areas, experts warned Friday of a looming “second wave”
of animal deaths and urgently appealed for volunteers to help feed surviving
creatures.
“Huge swathes of Kangaroo Island’s pristine habitat have been destroyed in
the devastating January 2020 bushfires,” South Australia’s RSPCA said.
“Wildlife that survived the fires is now at high risk of succumbing to
starvation and dehydration.”
“We don’t know how many animals are fending for themselves in totally
barren landscapes, but wildlife rescuers are starting to find animals in
extremely poor condition due to lack of food and water,” RSPCA chief Paul
Stevenson told reporters.
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