Air tanker crashes while fighting Australia fires, killing 3 Americans

SYDNEY - Three American firefighting airplane crew members were killed Thursday when the C-130 Hercules aerial water tanker they were in crashed while battling wildfires in southeastern Australia, officials said.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the deaths in the state's Snowy Monaro region, which came as Australia grapples with an unprecedented fire season that has left a large swath of destruction.

Canada-based Coulson Aviation said in a statement that one of its Lockheed large air tankers was lost after it left Richmond in New South Wales with retardant for a firebombing mission. It said the accident was “extensive“ but had few other details.

“The only thing I have from the field reports are that the plane came down, it's crashed and there was a large fireball associated with that crash,” Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.

The three crew members were identified as Capt. Ian H. McBeth, 44, of Great Falls, Montana; First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, of Buckeye, Arizona; and flight engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr., 43, of Navarre, Florida.

“We will be forever indebted to the enormous contributions and ultimate sacrifice that's been paid by these extraordinary individuals,“ Fitzsimmons said.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she had conveyed Australia's condolences to U.S. Ambassador Arthur Culvahouse Jr.

“Our hearts go out to their loved ones. They were helping Australia, far from their own homes, an embodiment of the deep friendship between our two countries,” she said in a statement.

Payne added: “Thank you to these three, and to all the brave firefighters from Australia and around the world. Your service and contribution are extraordinary. We are ever grateful.”

The tragedy brings the death toll from the blazes to at least 31 since September. The fires have also destroyed more than 2,600 homes and razed more than 25.7 million acres, an area bigger than the U.S. state of Indiana.

The three were part of a crew on a California-based tanker, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.

Though not the first of Coulson's fleet to come to the aid of the North Coast in time of need, the aircraft made its debut in Sonoma County just last year, when it was first rented by Cal Fire to serve out the fire season, said Sonoma Air Attack Base Capt. Nick Welch said.

It was due back again this summer, said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jake Serrano, base manager.

Based out of McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, it was used on everything from the small, 64-acre Canyon fire in Napa County last June to the massive, 77,758-acre Kincade incident, which broke out in late October and grew to the largest wildfire in Sonoma County history.

The very large tankers can provide enormous support during large fires, with their ability to move around the state quickly and drop such a tremendous payload on burning landscape, over and over.

Welch said the firefighting field would try to learn from the tragedy without forgetting about those whose lives were lost.

“It's just a bad day,” he said. “We're all mourning as a community.”

But given the pace of firefighting generally, the efficiency with which the huge tankers refuel and the constant rotation of crews that fly them, it's likely anyone at the Sonoma County air attack base acquainted with the 134 flight crew came to know them only in passing, Welch and Serrano said.

Coulson grounded other firefighting aircraft as a precaution pending investigation, reducing planes available to firefighters in New South Wales and neighboring Victoria state. The four-propeller Hercules drops more than 4,000 gallons of fire retardant in a single pass.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the national air crash investigator, and state police will investigate the crash site, which firefighters described as an active fire ground.

“There is no indication at this stage of what's caused the accident,” Fitzsimmons said.

Berejiklian said there were more than 1,700 volunteers and personnel in the field, and five fires were being described at an “emergency warning“ level - the most dangerous on a three-tier scale - across the state and on the fringes of the national capital Canberra.

Also Thursday, Canberra Airport closed temporarily because of nearby wildfires, and residents south of the city were told to seek shelter. The airport reopened after several hours with Qantas operating limited services, but Virgin and Singapore Airlines canceled flights for the rest of the day.

The blaze started Wednesday, but strong winds and high temperatures caused conditions in Canberra to deteriorate. A second fire near the airport that started on Thursday morning is at a “watch and act” level - the middle of the three tiers.

Residents in some Canberra suburbs were advised to seek shelter and others to leave immediately.

“The defense force is both assisting to a degree and looking to whether that needs to be reinforced,“ Chief of Defense Angus Campbell told reporters.

“I have people who are both involved as persons who need to be moved from areas and office buildings that are potentially in danger, and also those persons who are part of the Bushfire Assist effort,“ he said.

Press Democrat Staff Writer Mary Callahan contributed to this report.