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Reuters

A Canadian-owned C-130 Hercules air tanker crashed while fighting bush fires in Australia’s alpine region on Thursday, killing all three of its crew, authorities said.
The victims were United States residents, said Australian authorities, adding that they did not immediately know why the plane crashed while carrying a load of fire retardant.
“Tragically, there appear to be no survivors as a result of the crash down in the Snowy Monaro area,” said Shane Fitzsimmons, the chief of rural fire services for the southeastern state of New South Wales.
“(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 the aircraft went into a valley to drop the retardant and did not emerge.
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 bush fires operation.
Impact of Australian bush fires on the rest of the world
Coulson had grounded its large air tanker fleet following the accident, he added, pending a review to rule out any systemic issue, such as a fuel problem.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it was sending a team of investigators to the crash site to collect evidence and would analyse available recorded data, review weather information and interview any witnesses.
It would take about 30 days for the release of a preliminary report, it said, but if the investigation revealed a critical safety issue it would immediately notify stakeholders.

Coulson said the plane was on a firebombing mission with a load of retardant, and added that it would send a team to the crash site to assist.
“The accident is reported to be extensive and we are deeply saddened to confirm there were three fatalities,” it said in a brief emailed statement.
The deaths take to 32 the toll from hundreds of wildfires in Australia since September.


One billion animals are also estimated to have perished as the fires incinerated 2,500 homes and a total area of bushland one-third the size of Germany.
Tracking website Flightradar24 showed the path for an air tanker suddenly stopping in Peak View, south of Canberra.
According to its flight data, the aircraft departed the Richmond air force base in western Sydney around 12.15pm. It dropped off radar just after 2pm.
These animal species could go extinct in aftermath of Australia fires
Peak View is close to a blaze burning out of control in the Wadbilliga National Park, the fire service said.
The plane may have been “aerodynamically overloaded”, said Geoffrey Dell, an expert in accident forensics and investigation, meaning it may have turned or changed altitude too quickly for its load, forcing it to lose altitude sharply.
“It’s designed to operate to certain G (gravity)-limits, and if you go over those, different parts of the structure can be overstressed,” added Dell, a professor at Central Queensland University.

Such air tankers typically carry 15,000 litres of water or fire retardant for release over blazes in areas that ground crews find hard to reach.
The C-130 excels at low altitude and speeds, as its big wings and four powerful turboprop engines allow it to manoeuvre and accelerate in ways other aircraft cannot, said a senior US Air Force officer with more than 20 years’ experience of flying and operating the plane.
“You can make a lot of mistakes and the plane will forgive you,” said the officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
“It’s really perfect for these kinds of missions,” he said, referring to firefighting.
2019 was second hottest year ever, with more extreme weather on the way
Australia’s usually temperate mountain region has escaped some of the more devastating fires that have razed more than 11 million hectares (27 million acres) of the country’s wilderness, fanned by high winds and searing temperatures.
The capital, Canberra, located just over 100km (60 miles) from the crash site, shut its airport for several hours on Thursday because of a fire threat, while many residents were forced to seek shelter as fires raged nearby.
Damaging winds are fanning flames in parts of the Gippsland area in the southeastern state of Victoria, authorities said, near the site of fires in December.
Dense smoke also shrouded Sydney, but fire authorities said high temperatures should ease overnight.


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A C-130 Hercules plane drops fire retardant in Penrose, New South Wales state. Photo: AFP

In this undated photo released from the Rural Fire Service, a C-130 Hercules plane called "Thor" drops water during a flight in Australia. Officials in Australia on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, searched for a water tanker plane feared to have crashed while fighting wildfires. (RFS via AP)

CORRECTION - This handout photo taken on January 11, 2020 and received on January 17 from environment group Greenpeace Australia-Pacific shows Rural Fire Service volunteer firefighters watching as the New South Wales "megafire" approaches the outskirts of the town of Tumbarumba in New South Wales. - Haunting images of koalas with singed fur, possums with burnt paws or countless charred kangaroo carcasses have flashed around the world and have come to symbolise a nation and an environment buckling under the weight of a climate-fuelled crisis. (Photo by Kiran Ridley / GREENPEACE AUSTRALIA PACIFIC / AFP) / NO RESALE - NO INTERNET -----EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / GREENPEACE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVE / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Kiran Ridley has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: corrects source in Special Instruct

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A devastated bunch of grapes at Tomich Winery is pictured following a bushfire in December 2019, in Adelaide Hills, Australia January 18, 2020. REUTERS/Stefica Nicol Bikes

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The Sydney Opera House is seen through smoke haze from bush fires in New South Wales. Images of the fires have deterred tourists from visiting Australia, especially over Lunar New Year. Photo: DPA

A handout photo taken and received on January 17, 2020 from the Australian Reptile Park shows a staff member carrying koalas during a flash flood at the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, some 50 kilometres north of Sydney. - Heavy rain fell on bushfires in eastern Australia for a second straight day, offering further relief from a months-long crisis, but dozens of blazes remained out of control. (Photo by Handout / AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK / AFP) / ----EDITORS NOTE ----RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE MANDATORY CREDIT " AFP PHOTO / AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK" NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVES

Melbourne CBD is seen from Eureka Tower as smoke haze from the bushfires continues to hang over Melbourne, Australia, January 15, 2020. AAP Image/David Crosling/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT.

28 May 2017, Australia, Bairnsdale: A firefighting helicopter flies over a bush fire near Bairnsdale in the East Gippsland Shire region of the state of Victoria. Photo: -/STATE GOVERNMENT OF VICTORIA via AAP/dpa

Taylor, a koala detection dog, sits beneath a tree after sniffing out a koala above it at bushfire-affected Taree, New South Wales, Australia, November 28, 2019, in this still image from video courtesy of Tate Animal Training Enterprises. Video taken November 28, 2019. Tate Animal Training Enterprises via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MUST ON SCREEN COURTESY TATE ANIMAL TRAINING ENTERPRISES.

Pedestrians hold umbrellas as they walk in heavy rain in Sydney's CBD, Australia, January 17, 2020. AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

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At least 180 fires continued to burn across Victoria and New South Wales. Photo: TNS

In this Dec. 31, 2019, photo provided by Siobhan Threlfall, fire and thick smoke remains the village of Nerrigundah, Australia. The tiny village has been among the hardest hit by Australia's devastating wildfires, with about two thirds of the homes destroyed and a 71-year-old man killed. (AP Photo/Siobhan Threlfall)

TOPSHOT - A long exposure picture shows a car commuting on a road as the sky turns red from smoke of the Snowy Valley bushfire on the outskirts of Cooma on January 4, 2020. - Up to 3,000 military reservists were called up to tackle Australia's relentless bushfire crisis on January 4, as tens of thousands of residents fled their homes amid catastrophic conditions. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)

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Smoke billows from a fire burning at East Gippsland, Victoria, on January 2, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

epa08097375 Business owners stand in front of their shop which was destroyed by a bushfire in Cobargo, New South Wales, Australia, 01 January 2020. EPA-EFE/SEAN DAVEY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

TOPSHOT - This picture taken on December 31, 2019 shows a firefighter hosing down trees and flying embers in an effort to secure nearby houses from bushfires near the town of Nowra in the Australian state of New South Wales. - Fire-ravaged Australia has launched a major operation to reach thousands of people stranded in seaside towns after deadly bushfires ripped through popular tourist areas on New Year's Eve. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)

epa08098491 A handout photo made available by the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning of Gippsland region in Australia on 02 January 2020, showing smoke billowing from a fire burning at East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. More than 800,000 hectares have been burnt in Victoria's destructive East Gippsland. According to reports, at least 17 people have died and thousands have been evacuated due to catastrophic bushfires in Australia so far. EPA-EFE/DELWP GIPPSLAND HANDOUT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Smoke and wildfire rage behind Lake Conjola, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. Thousands of tourists fled Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast Thursday ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. (Robert Oerlemans via AP)

A satellite image of the Batemans Bay area shows smoke and flames from bush fires in Australia. Photo: Reuters

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Australasia


The Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft with three aboard crashed after losing contact with ground control in the Snowy Monaro region
The country has been battling an unprecedented wave of wildfires since September that have killed at least 29 people and devastated communities



All three aboard the C-130 Hercules aerial water tanker were killed when it crashed while battling renewed blazes fuelled by high temperatures and strong winds.


US firefighters in Australia die after plane crashes, sparking ‘large fireball’ on impact

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft with three aboard crashed after losing contact with ground control in the Snowy Monaro region The country has been battling an unprecedented wave of wildfires since September that have killed at least 29 people and devastated communities

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft with three aboard crashed after losing contact with ground control in the Snowy Monaro region

The country has been battling an unprecedented wave of wildfires since September that have killed at least 29 people and devastated communities