A potentially crucial flight recorder on a US Lockheed C-130 Hercules that crashed fighting bushfires in Australia did not record any information during the flight or while it was stationed in the country.
A preliminary factual report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau reveals that the C-130s cockpit voice recorder (CVR) did not record any audio during the fatal flight in the Snowy Mountains on January 23.
Experienced fire-fighters Captain Ian McBeth, 45, first officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 43, and flight engineer Rick A DeMorgan Jr, 44, were all killed in the tragedy.
The C-130 was contracted to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service by North American aerial firefighting company Coulson Aviation.
“Although the recorder assembly was damaged in the accident, ATSB investigators were able to successfully recover all the data from the CVR’s crash protected memory module,” ATSB Chief Commissioner Greg Hood said Friday.
“However, unfortunately, the CVR had not recorded any audio from the accident flight.
“Instead, all recovered audio was from a previous flight when the aircraft was operating in the United States.”
The Hercules had been in Australia since November 2019 and the ATSB will investigate why the CVR was not working.
“Audio from cockpit voice recorders often plays an important role in aircraft accident investigations, however, our investigators do have a range of other evidence, including witness videos, at their disposal in building a comprehensive understanding of the accident sequence,” Hood said.
The preliminary report found there were no distress calls prior to the crash and indicated the aircraft hit a tree in a left wing-down attitude before plunging into the ground.
It crashed on slightly sloping, partially wooded terrain in conditions with severe turbulence below 5000ft.
The aircraft had been tasked to drop retardant on a bushfire about 50km north-east of the Cooma Snowy Mountains Airport.
Witnesses reported seeing the Hercules completing a number of circuits prior to the drop, which was conducted on a heading of about 190° at a height of about 200ft above ground level and involved the release of about 1200 US gallons (4500 litres) of retardant.
Following the retardant drop, the report said, the aircraft was observed to bank left, before becoming obscured by smoke after about 5 seconds.
It was seen flying at a very low height above the ground, in a left-wing down attitude.
The report added: “The ATSB’s on-site examination of the wreckage, damage to the surrounding vegetation, and ground markings indicated that the aircraft initially impacted a tree in a left-wing down attitude, before colliding with the ground.
“The post-impact fuel-fed fire destroyed the aircraft. The examination also found that an emergency dump of the fire retardant had not been activated.”
The ATSB has retained the engine propellers and several other components for further examination.
The investigation will consider environmental influences; the crew’s qualifications, experience and medical information; the nature of aerial fire-fighting operations; and operating policies and procedures.
“An investigation of this nature and complexity may take more than 18 months to complete,” Hood said.
“However, should any safety-critical information be discovered at any time during the investigation, we will immediately notify operators and regulators, and make that publicly known.”
