BREAKING NEWS
Photo Credit: Jarrod Swanwick.
A firefighting aircraft has crashed while battling a blaze in WA’s Great Southern area.
Two people on board have survived and are currently receiving medical assistance. It is unclear what injuries, if any, they may have sustained. It comes as emergency crews battle multiple places in the Fitzgerald River National Park near Hopetoun.
The incident occurred in the Fitzgerald River National Park, about 460 kilometres south-east of Perth at about 4:40pm. WA Police said the aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 was believed to have taken off from Bunbury at about 3:25pm to respond to a fire in the area.
"The two pilots onboard were retrieved from the crash site by helicopter and airlifted to Ravensthorpe Health Service," it said in a statement.
The Coulson Aviation Boeing 737-300 Air Tanker, with registration N619SW, departed from Busselton Airport south of Perth on Australia’s west coast at 03:32 local time to respond to a fire in the area, according to data from FlightRadar24.com. The 737 climbed to 29,000 feet en route to respond to the bushfire in the Fitzgerald River National Park. This was its third mission of the day over the same area.
As the aircraft reached close to the fire area, it descended to around 700 feet to drop firefighting substances over the area. However, after dropping the firefighting substance, the aircraft could not climb as expected and only managed to reach around 1,800 feet before eventually crashing in the vicinity of the fire it had been fighting. The accident occurred in the Fitzgerald River National Park, about 460 kilometers southeast of Perth at about 4:40 pm local time.
A St John Ambulance WA spokesperson said the two people were not believed to be seriously injured.
There is a threat to lives and homes, with the blaze moving quickly in a northeasterly direction.
Dozens of firefighters are on the ground working to tame the fires.
Lightning has been blamed for sparking the fires.
Aircraft Information:
Owner/Operator: Coulson's Aviation
Code: CUL
Aircraft: Boeing 737-3H4
Registration: N619SW
Serial Number: 28035
First Flew: October 1995
Age: 27Yrs 4 Mts.
Dozens of firefighters are on the ground working to tame the fires.
Lightning has been blamed for sparking the fires.
Aircraft Information:
Owner/Operator: Coulson's Aviation
Code: CUL
Aircraft: Boeing 737-3H4
Registration: N619SW
Serial Number: 28035
First Flew: October 1995
Age: 27Yrs 4 Mts.
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