Crime & Safety
Australian Wildfires: 3 Americans Die In Air Tanker Crash
The American crew was fighting a bushfire in the southeast part of New South Wales.
Three Americans have died in an air tanker crash while fighting wildfires in the Australian state of New South Wales, according to reports. The water-bombing tanker had been chartered by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, and was fighting a bushfire near the town of Cooma, in the southeast part of the state.
The crew members belonged to Coulson Aviation, an aerial firefighting company contracted with the New South Wales Rural Firefighting Service, CNN reports. According to an NSW RFS commissioner, contact was lost with the plane just before 1:30 p.m. local time on Thursday.
The NSW Rural Fire Service is investigating reports of a serious incident involving an aircraft in southern NSW this afternoon. Contact was lost with a Large Air Tanker which was working in the Snowy Monaro area. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/i6u1mlZsZ0
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 23, 2020
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Find out what's happening in Across Americafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
