Three American crew members have died when a Hercules aerial water tanker crashed while battling wildfires in southeastern Australia earlier today.
The Hercules air tanker went down in the southern part of New South Wales – while fighting the bushfires.
The plane was owned by a company in Portland, Oregon that had been contracted out to help battle the fires.
Coulson Aviation in Oregon said in a statement that one of its Lockheed large air tankers was lost after it left Richmond in New South Wales with retardant for a firebombing mission.
The tragedy brings the death toll from the blazes to at least 31 since September.
The fires have also destroyed more than 2,600 homes and burned more than 10.4 million hectares (25.7 million acres).
