Sydney, Australia – A C-130 tanker plane that crashed and killed all three Americans on board while fighting fires in Australia in 2020 likely stalled when flying in hazardous conditions after making a fire retardant drop, investigators said in a final report on Monday.
There is no evidence that the crew was told a smaller lead aircraft called a “birddog” initially assigned to support the C-130 had declined the mission due to weather-related safety concerns, highlighting a lack of information sharing that may have contributed to the crash, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.
“We do know that the use of large air tankers in Australia is relatively new,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell told reporters. “And those policies perhaps haven’t been as mature as they’ve been in other jurisdictions that have used them,” he added, citing the United States as being more advanced.
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