PERTH, Australia — Two pilots walked away with minor accidents after a Boeing 737 jet transformed for firefighting crashed in Australia, officers stated Tuesday.
The dual-engine tanker owned by Canadian-based Coulson Aviation crashed in Fitzgerald River Nationwide Park in southern Western Australia state whereas combating wildfires late Monday.
Each pilots obtained solely minor accidents regardless that the aircraft was engulfed in flames and smoke upon influence, Emergency Providers Minister Stephen Dawson stated.
“It’s nothing wanting miraculous that they had been in a position to stroll away from that aircraft,” Dawson informed reporters.
The boys, believed to be Canadian residents, had been launched from a hospital on Tuesday, Australian Related Press reported.
Three American aviators died when a C-130 Hercules tanker, a four-propeller aircraft additionally owned by Coulson Aviation, crashed within the east coast state of New South Wales whereas combating wildfires in January 2020.
The Australian Transport Security Bureau, the nation’s crash investigator, stated Monday’s crash was the primary critical accident involving a Boeing 737 in Australia.
The aircraft crashed shortly after dumping its load of water with components in turbulent situations. Coulson Aviation is sending executives to Sydney.
Crash investigator Angus Mitchell stated it was too early to recommend any hyperlink between the 2 Coulson Aviation crashes or wider implications for Boeing 737 passenger plane.
“That is pretty frequent that air tankers are transformed from different makes use of,” Mitchell stated.
“By way of a big plane like this coming down, it’s typically by no means one factor that goes flawed, it’s very often a succession of issues,” Mitchell added.
The aircraft had taken off from an airport 500 kilometers (300 miles) away. It was the aircraft’s second retardant drop on an out-of-control wildfire close to the coastal city of Hopetoun.