The Bell 214B crashed while on a water-dropping mission Nov. 13, 2019
Continue readingPreliminary report released about crash of Air Tanker 134
The accident occurred January 23, 2020 in Australia
Continue readingIn a 5-year period two helicopter crashes during aerial ignition operations resulted in three fatalities
The risk of flying low and slow with a single-engine helicopter while igniting fire
Continue readingNTSB preliminary report on helicopter crash during prescribed fire
Flying low and slow in a single-engine helicopter while igniting fire below the aircraft is obviously very, very dangerous.
Continue readingVideo of the last drop of Air Tanker 134 in Australia
The EC-130Q crashed in New South Wales January 23, 2020
Continue readingVideo released of the final drop of Tanker 134 in Australia
The EC-130Q crashed in New South Wales January 23, 2020
Continue readingFire Department helicopter crew responded to Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash
I was at Los Angeles County FD’s Barton Heliport as the crew on Helicopter 12 geared-up and responded
Continue readingMore information has become available about the C-130 crash in Australia
Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder
Continue readingAn overview of the C-130 incident in Australia
From L-R, First Officer Paul Clyde Hudson, Captain Ian H. McBeth, Flight Engineer Rick A. DeMorgan Jr. Coulson Aviation photo.A video has been posted on YouTube by “blancolirio”, who frequently makes aviation-related videos. In the 15-minute piece he analyzes from afar the January 23, 2020 crash of Air Tanker 134, the Coulson Aviation EC-130Q in which Paul Hudson, Ian McBeth, and Rick DeMorgan Jr. were killed while working on a bushfire in New South Wales, Australia.
Keep in mind it will be months before the investigators release a report and the cause of the crash has not been determined.
This incident and the loss of these three men has had a severe impact on the small air tanker community.
Coulson has two C-130 air tankers (the other is T-131). The loss of T-134 drops that number to one. They also operate several Type 1 helicopters, a recently converted Boeing 737, and have four other 737s and five more C-130s with plans to convert them into air tankers in the future.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Kelly. Typos or errors, report them HERE.
Air tanker crash in Australia kills three crew members
It was working on a fire in New South Wales
Continue reading