Three killed in Australia firefighting plane crash

The crash set off a 'large fireball' as bushfires rage on across southeast Australia.


Three people were killed when a water-bombing plane crashed southwest of Sydney on Thursday, setting off a “large fireball”, Australian officials said, as bushfires flared across the country’s southeast.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said authorities lost contact with the C-130 Hercules aircraft, which was operating in the Snowy Monaro region, shortly before 1:30pm Thursday.

Fitzsimmons said the aircraft owner, Canadian firm Coulson Aviation, was grounding its operations of large air tankers fighting fires in New South Wales and Victoria states “pending review” of the planes.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

Read more on these topics

Australia Breaking News bushfires plane crash

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.