An aviation company has identified the three firefighters who died in an air crash in Australia, where they were flying in a California-based C-130 and helping to battle wildfires.
An aviation company has identified the three U.S. crew members who died battling Australia‘s bush fires, after their California-based air tanker crashed in a rugged part of the country’s coastal mountains.
Prior to the identification of the firefighters, the U.S. Forest Service shared the news with its public information officers throughout Oregon and Washington at 11 a.m. Thursday via email.“The wildland firefighting community is a family and when there is a loss it is felt throughout the entire organization,” it began. “We extend our deepest sympathy to the families of the fallen.”From L-R, First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, Captain Ian H. McBeth, Flight Engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr.
In New South Wales, Australians, Canadians and Americans joined together in a one-minute moment of silence for the three crew members. DeMorgan was an Air Force pilot who served as a flight engineer on C-130s for 18 years. He had more than 4,000 hours of flight time and nearly 2,000 of those in combat. He is survived by his two sons.
The plane was one of more than 70 in the air battling blazes in the state that afternoon, under conditions that Fitzsimmons described as very hot, dry and windy. “It was another very difficult, aggressive fire weather day which resulted in many of these fires spreading and breaking out,” he said.Fire officials grounded all aircraft for the rest of the day following the crash.
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