Video Shows Plane Before Crash that Killed US Firefighters

Jan. 29, 2020

New footage captures the C-130 Hercules, which was battling Australian wildfires, moments before it went down in New South Wales, killing three U.S. firefighters.

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A new video captures the moments before an air tanker carrying three U.S. firefighters crashed while battling wildfires in Australia last week.

The footage, posted online by Sky News Australia, shows the C-130 Hercules dropping fire retardant over an area of the New South Wales Snowy Mountains on Thursday. The aircraft then flies into a thick patch of smoke before crashing to the ground and bursting into flames.

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Capt. Ian H. McBeth, 44, of Great Falls, Mont.; 1st Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, of Buckeye, Ariz.; and flight engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr., 43, of Navarro, Fla., were killed when the plane went down. The aircraft, which was owned by Canada's Coulson Aviation, was based in California last year, where it was used to train CAL FIRE crews and was deployed to fight the Kincade fire in Sonoma County and other wildfires.

The aircraft was sent to Australia this year to help the New South Wales Rural Fire Service battle the devastating bushfires.