On 23 January 2020, an airtanker operated by Coulson Aviation crashes into terrain while aerial firefighting for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service during Australia's black summer bushfires. All three crew members on board are killed in the crash.
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00:00New South Wales, Australia, 2020.
00:04After dropping a load of fire retardant...
00:07Load us away.
00:08Firefighters on the ground witness the unthinkable.
00:12A C-130 firebomber crashes, killing all three crew members.
00:17It's a guttural, visceral loss.
00:20Investigators must determine the cause of the crash within an active fire zone.
00:25Look at that. Complete destruction.
00:28And they must do it without a flight data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder.
00:33This is a lot of important data that we did not have access to.
00:37But fellow pilots do provide valuable insight.
00:40I didn't think it was safe. I rejected the task.
00:45Why was the firebomber even out there?
00:48Whoa, hang on.
00:58Cool, up.
01:01Coulson Aviation B-137 is circling above a wildfire near Adaminiby, Australia.
01:222,000 feet.
01:33Copy, 2,000 feet.
01:34Let's make another turn and see what we can see.
01:38Coulson Aviation is one of the world's leading aerial firefighting companies.
01:43Headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, they operate a fleet of fixed and rotary wing firefighting aircraft around the world.
01:52The majority of aerial firefighters are private companies, and they are contracted by the government.
02:03Visibility is still pretty bad.
02:04I think we're going to need a closer look.
02:05Yeah, I'm going to take her down to 1,000 feet.
02:07The crew of the 737 is searching for somewhere to drop 4,000 gallons of fire retardant.
02:15Descending to 1,000 feet.
02:17So they're looking for that sweet spot.
02:19They're looking for the perfect drop altitude with the perfect line to be able to drop that retardant right where the firefighter needs it.
02:29The 737's mission is just one battle in a much bigger war.
02:34The Black Summer fires were some of the worst that Australia has seen.
02:39New South Wales was the hardest hit state.
02:42They suffered a loss of 21% of its alpine vegetation, which encompassed over 68,000 acres of burned area.
02:51It challenged everybody in the fire services, in aerial firefighting, in ways that they've never been challenged before.
02:58Air crews from the United States and around the world respond to the call for help and join their Australian counterparts to battle the wildfires.
03:12As the crew prepares, they get as low as they can to make a drop.
03:18Descending to 800 feet.
03:22800 feet.
03:23There's been a rapid change in wind speed and direction.
03:35Affirmative.
03:36Increasing thrust.
03:40Climbing.
03:40In aerial firefighting, you've got to get very low and very slow.
03:48And at times, you'll all of a sudden get hit by a gust that you weren't expecting.
03:55All right, I think we've got her back under control.
03:59Aerial firefighting pilots face unique challenges compared to your average everyday pilot.
04:04That's why they are so experienced and so skilled in what they do.
04:11All right, can you get us direct to base?
04:13After almost 30 minutes of difficult flying in dangerous conditions, the crew decides not to return to the fire in Adaminaby.
04:23Heading set for return to Richmond Air Base.
04:27Autopilot on.
04:28You know what, though?
04:31We need to contact fire control and the bird dog.
04:34Everybody needs to know that conditions out there are deteriorating rapidly.
04:38Agreed.
04:38100%.
04:39The crew sends out a warning about the conditions to the control center and their lead plane.
04:48There's often what's called a bird dog or a lead plane, which is a much smaller aircraft, more nimble, a very experienced pilot,
04:57who can better assess the drop for the tanker pilot before the tanker pilot even arrives.
05:06Colson B-134 on route to Adaminaby.
05:09Did you hear that?
05:10B-134.
05:11The pilots of the 737 overhear another Colson aircraft headed to the fire zone they just abandoned.
05:20B-134, this is B-137.
05:23Do you read?
05:27Colson B-134, a modified Hercules C-130 with a crew of three, is approaching the fire in Adaminaby.
05:36Good afternoon, B-137.
05:38B-134, reading you loud and clear.
05:41The pilot in command is 45-year-old Ian Macbeth.
05:46He's flown nearly a thousand firefighting missions like this one.
05:50We just did a drop in Adaminaby.
05:52Conditions are very bad.
05:55We had some crazy wind and visibility is really poor.
05:59You can go take a look, but I'm not going back there.
06:03Copy that, B-137.
06:04We'll assess conditions carefully.
06:06Thanks for the warning.
06:06Communications in aerial firefighting is an integral part of the overall firefight for weather conditions and changes on the fire ground.
06:17The C-130 co-pilot is 42-year-old Paul Hudson, a former U.S. Marine pilot.
06:2543-year-old flight engineer Rick DeMorgan is on leave from active duty in the United States Air Force.
06:32If you were to put together the perfect crew for the type of thing that 134 was fighting, you would get these guys or somebody exactly like them.
06:41Now approaching the target area in Adaminaby, the crew descends to 2,500 feet and begins a circuit pattern.
06:50Despite the other crew's warnings, Macbeth wants to assess conditions for himself.
07:20Aerial firefighters are a unique breed in that they're highly experienced pilots before they ever get behind the controls of an aerial firefighting aircraft.
07:31They're already people who conduct risk assessments.
07:34They're people that know how to handle a crisis situation.
07:39Coming around for one more circuit.
07:41Though the conditions seem dire, a C-130 firebomber like B-134 is modified for such extreme conditions.
07:55The C-130 is an amazing aircraft.
07:58It's a robust, strong airplane that was built to haul and deliver a lot of cargo and a lot of weight.
08:04They make wonderful air tankers.
08:06C-130 air tankers are retrofitted with structural reinforcements in their fuselage to accommodate tanks that carry more than 16 tons of fire retardant.
08:18Having four big engines on a C-130 like that, it is wonderful to be able to power out of something if you find yourself in a position to be in trouble.
08:30But no aircraft is invulnerable.
08:34And for professional flight crews, safety is a priority.
08:37A-737 crew is dead right.
08:42These winds are too crazy.
08:44All right, I'm calling this one off.
08:46I'll notify fire control.
08:48Kuma FCC, Coulson B-134.
08:50Go ahead, Coulson B-134.
08:53Kuma FCC, conditions at Adam enemy, too smoky and windy.
08:57There's no way to make a drop here.
08:58Copy that, Coulson B-134.
09:00The fire control centre in Kuma, Australia, serves as a local base for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.
09:10It coordinates firefighting efforts in the area, both on the ground and in the air.
09:17B-134, we're sending through coordinates for an alternative target, the peak view.
09:21Stand by.
09:25Your new heading is 085.
09:27Copy that, Kuma FCC 085, proceeding to peak view.
09:33The C-130 is directed to another fire.
09:38New heading is set.
09:40All right, plan B. Here we go.
09:43When you've got a crew assessing the situation and saying,
09:46is it a little bit too windy, it's a little bit too smoky, let's not drop here.
09:50It's a good thing to have the ability to go on to another location.
09:53The C-130 is rerouted to an area 58 kilometres to the east of Adaminobi, known as Peak View.
10:04A remote area of hills and farmland running up to a mountain ridge.
10:08All right, let's see what we've got here.
10:15There, along that ridge line.
10:17If we aim for the east side.
10:19I see it.
10:20Yeah, that could work.
10:22Let's get a closer look.
10:24Starting first circuit now.
10:25Following standard procedure, the C-130 flies several low-altitude circuits over the fire ground.
10:37There's a multitude of factors that air tanker pilots look at when they go into a fire.
10:42We're talking about the fire behaviour, we're talking about the weather, what are my escape routes like.
10:48All right, that's three circuits.
10:53I'd say we're good to drop just east of that ridge there.
10:55Agreed?
10:56Yes, sir. Good to go.
10:58Stand by.
10:59Descending towards drop area.
11:01Now all that's needed is for the C-130 to get in close enough to make a successful drop.
11:06The crew of Bomber-134 prepares to drop a load of fire retardant on a wildfire near Peak View, Australia.
11:27Okay, there's our line.
11:29Release point in sight.
11:32Rolling in on final.
11:33Passing through 400 feet.
11:43300.
11:45Stand by to drop.
11:48Hang on, almost there.
11:51Probably the most critical time in this whole process is on the drop, because you're losing a lot of weight on the airplane,
11:57which means the aerodynamics of the airplane are going to be different.
12:00You're going to need to climb fast.
12:01We are at 200 feet.
12:04Clear to drop.
12:05Dropping, dropping.
12:06Lotus away.
12:14As soon as the C-130 drops its load of fire retardant…
12:18Clamp thrust, flaps 50.
12:21Flaps 50.
12:22…the crew tries to regain altitude.
12:24Whoa, hang on.
12:28Come on.
12:31Still not gaining altitude.
12:37But the plane won't climb.
12:40Bomber 134 has crashed into the Australian bush.
13:02Tragically, there appears to be no survivors as a result of the crash.
13:06The aerial firefighter community is very small, and it's a guttural, visceral loss.
13:17If we could just have a minute's silence.
13:20When I got the call, Bomber 134 had crashed near Cooma, New South Wales.
13:30Hercules, the C-130, is a very reliable aeroplane, and I honestly couldn't believe it.
13:36So, how far is the crash site from Cooma?
13:47The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, or ATSB, is alerted to the disaster immediately.
13:55About 35 miles northeast, near Peak View.
13:59Oh, I know that area.
14:00That's pretty remote.
14:01Surrounded by brush fires, we have a few teams dispatched to the area.
14:07It was located on a single-direction access road that was impacted by fire a number of times during our on-site activities.
14:15So, the fire bomber is a modified C-130.
14:20What do we know about its history?
14:22While investigators wait for updates from the crash site,
14:26they look into the plane's history for anything that could explain the crash.
14:30All right, here's the Certificate of Airworthiness.
14:35Looks like everything's in accordance with FAA standards.
14:38And according to the aircraft specs, it was converted to fire bomber in 2018.
14:44Since then, it's accrued 683 hours of firefighting operations.
14:50And it had an inspection just yesterday.
14:56Any issues?
14:58Nothing significant.
15:02A review of the aircraft's maintenance logbooks and worksheets showed that there was no pre-existing defects prior to the flight departing,
15:11so we were now looking at something happening during the flight that we had to consider.
15:18Investigators continue to sift through the aircraft's records.
15:23Take a look at this.
15:23The C-130 was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder, but no flight data recorder.
15:31Nor was it required to have one.
15:33Really?
15:35Well, that makes it more challenging.
15:38Where aircraft are fitted with a flight data recorder,
15:40this gives investigators a huge amount of information that can be used to determine aircraft performance.
15:46This is a lot of important data that we did not have access to.
15:53Footage from the New South Wales Police gives investigators a bird's eye view of the severity of the crash.
16:05Look at that.
16:09The scale of devastation was incredible to see.
16:12It was a shocking sight.
16:13All that was recognisable while approaching was that tail and the aft section.
16:19Everything forward of the back of the wing was in multiple pieces throughout the site.
16:26So the first point of impact is here.
16:29Clip the tree.
16:31Then the wreckage extends all the way up to here.
16:35Investigators discover that after impact, the wreckage slid 600 feet uphill.
16:41Must have come in pretty steep for that kind of damage.
16:45It was evident that the aircraft had come in quite heavy.
16:49We're talking a lot of energy here.
16:52So what could have caused the devastating crash?
16:56Investigating an accident like this, we start to sort of think about what could possibly have gone wrong.
17:02Are we looking at an engineering issue here?
17:05Are we looking at an operational issue here?
17:07Or are we looking even at an environmental issue?
17:17With that level of devastation, we have to consider a structural problem.
17:22Agreed.
17:22Did the Colson C-130 experience a structural failure prior to crashing violently into the ground?
17:32One of the fundamental things we have to determine is all the aircraft on the site.
17:37So the cockpit was torn away and the nose is here.
17:42We have to locate effectively the four corners of the aircraft to determine that all the components of the C-130 were on site.
17:51There's evidence of the left wing tip.
17:56And the right.
18:00And of course the tail.
18:04It's all there.
18:05The C-130 did not suffer any kind of structural failure prior to impact.
18:12If there had have been an in-flight breakup, there would have been pieces of the aircraft that weren't in the wreckage site.
18:19They would have been further back along the flight path.
18:23Look at this.
18:30We've got retardant at the site.
18:32So they only released a partial load, which means they were carrying extra weight.
18:41Typically the flight crew are trained, if they do run into any emergency situation, to dump that retardant.
18:48This would increase the aircraft's performance.
18:51Why didn't the crew release its remaining fire retardant?
18:55It could be a factor if they were struggling to regain altitude.
18:58Whoa, hang on.
19:04Come on.
19:06Still not gaining altitude.
19:15We've got something.
19:17Several days after the crash of the Colson fire bomber, the investigation receives unexpected evidence.
19:24Eyewitness video from the RFS.
19:25A firefighter with the RFS, or Rural Fire Service, captured the final seconds of the C-130 on video.
19:35We were provided with a witness video, which had captured the last 25 seconds of the aircraft's flight.
19:41Hold that one.
19:42You can do the other one too.
19:45Go.
19:45You see it coming in low.
20:01It drops the fire retardant.
20:03And it looks like it starts to climb.
20:05Right.
20:05And for some reason, it doesn't regain altitude.
20:11All of a sudden...
20:15Oh!
20:22The witness videos essentially provided an unedited version of the aircraft's final movement.
20:30A short time after the retardant drop, the aircraft became obscured by smoke.
20:35I think there's more we can do with this video.
20:39Typically, when we receive a witness video, we're able to use basic photogrammetry on determining the aircraft attitude.
20:47In this case, we're using new software that we had just got access to.
20:51The use of the 3D tracking software allowed us to look at the witness video in a lot more detail.
21:10We could look at the aircraft's attitude.
21:13We could look at the pitch and roll angles to get a better sense of what was happening.
21:17OK, that's everything.
21:26At the beginning of the drop, the pitch is level with a slight left bank.
21:31Seems pretty normal.
21:34After the drop, the plane is banked left and pitched up.
21:38They're climbing out.
21:39For 10 seconds following the drop, we could see that the aircraft had established a positive rate of climb.
21:48Up to about 170 feet above the drop height.
21:54And through the remaining images, the plane appears to be sinking.
21:59Looks like a stall.
22:00All the signs are there.
22:05The witness video showed that the aircraft's final movements were consistent with an aerodynamic stall.
22:13In terms of the aircraft stopped climbing and the rolling movement of the aircraft.
22:22However, without a flight data recorder, we were unable to confirm with a degree of certainty that the aircraft had stalled.
22:29The question is, did it stall?
22:33And if so, why?
22:45Will the wreckage of the Colson C-130 support the ATSB's theory that the fire bomber stalled?
22:53Excellent.
22:54Cockpit bush recorder.
22:55Let's get that to HQ for download straight away.
22:57Finding the cockpit voice recorder gave us an opportunity to understand the crew's communications within the cockpit.
23:06While data from the cockpit voice recorder, or CVR, is processed, investigators examine the engines.
23:14Thanks for coming in.
23:17An expert from the engine manufacturer, Rolls-Royce, assists with the examination.
23:22Were the engines operating?
23:26Were they operating comparably across all four of them?
23:30And is an engine failure why this aircraft stopped flying?
23:35As you can see, there's pretty heavy impact and fire damage.
23:38Well, let's have a look.
23:39Have a look at that.
23:46The compressor blades are badly damaged.
23:49And that looks like molten metal.
23:53All signs of engine ingestion.
23:55There was a significant explosion and fireball when this aircraft impacted the ground.
24:03The evidence of molten metal inside the compressor casing was indicative that the engines were operating when this fireball occurred.
24:11The engines had ingested the fire and the broken bits of metal.
24:25Just got confirmation from our records team the flaps were at 50.
24:28That's the right configuration for climb out.
24:31So we've ruled out engine failure and improper configuration as causes for a stall.
24:37Normally we would have airspeed and engine parameter data from the flight data recorder.
24:46But because we didn't, we had to come up with different ways to determine if the aircraft aerodynamically stalled.
24:54Let's look at the CVR transcript.
24:57Will it explain what could have caused the C-130 to stall?
25:07Training exercise, what is this?
25:09This is not our flight.
25:12Looks like it's from a previous flight in California.
25:17Nine months prior to the accident flight, the inertia switch had activated during a hard landing.
25:24This meant that the recording device stopped recording any further information.
25:29With no CVR or FDR available, investigators turn to what data they do have.
25:38Okay, according to the equipment list, the C-130 was equipped with two tracking devices, the ADS-B and SkyTrack.
25:45ADS-B and SkyTrack are two onboard positioning systems that transmit the plane's location and other data to satellites and ground stations in real time.
26:04At the very least, that'll give us a flight path.
26:07Perhaps more evidence of a stall.
26:09We had to look at alternative ways to start looking at the aircraft performance.
26:12This included other real-time tracking data that was available to us.
26:19We've got the data.
26:24So they approach the area at 2,000 feet.
26:31They complete their first circuit at 1,500 feet.
26:36Second circuit at 500 feet.
26:39Final circuit, 1,000 feet.
26:45They're doing a proper survey of the situation.
26:48This is really to assess the weather conditions at that lower level.
26:52Okay, so what about the drop itself?
26:55Before they drop into the higher-risk 200-foot altitude.
26:59So they make the drop at 200 feet and then they climb up to 370.
27:09And they're at a very low altitude, three seconds later.
27:15What airspeed would the plane have to be flying in order to stall if it was in a climb-out configuration?
27:20While the tracking data further supports the enhanced witness video,
27:25can it reveal if the plane was flying so slowly that it stalled?
27:30An airplane has a specific stall speed for specific configurations.
27:35Flaps up, flaps down, and particular weight.
27:43That's flaps 50, weight 131,000 pounds after a partial retardant drop.
27:50Investigators start by calculating the stall speed of a C-130 on climb-out.
27:57We'll need to factor in some turbulence near the drop area.
28:01Turbulence introduces the possibility that you're going to have a sudden updraft or a sudden downdraft,
28:06and it's going to affect your altitude and your attitude.
28:08All right, let's start with moderate turbulence, with a load factor from 0.5 Gs to 0.99 Gs.
28:21They factor in different levels of turbulence, likely present at the time of the incident.
28:28And severe turbulence up to 1.99 Gs.
28:32The higher the turbulence, the higher your airspeed needs to be to ensure that you don't stall.
28:42All right, that should do it.
28:44So in moderate turbulence, the C-130 stall speed is between 101 and 117 knots.
28:52In severe turbulence, it's between 117 and 143 knots.
28:56Was the C-130 flying at a stall speed between 101 and 143 knots, causing it to plummet to the ground?
29:11Pull up the ground speed from the tracking data.
29:14To determine if the C-130 was flying at stall speed,
29:18investigators examined the ground speed recorded in the tracking data.
29:22We didn't have the airspeed, and therefore had to estimate it based on ground speeds that had been recorded.
29:33Okay, ground speed for the C-130 is 144 knots before they dropped the retardant,
29:41increasing to 151 knots before impact.
29:46All right, now let's factor in the wind speed.
29:49We knew that they were flying in hazardous environmental conditions,
29:53which included gusting and changing wind conditions.
29:56And this then posed a challenge for us to determine what the airspeed was.
30:02Airspeed measures a plane's speed relative to the air it's flying through.
30:13That's the weather at peak view, less than a mile from the crash site.
30:19We've got a lot of turbulence with winds gusting from the north-west.
30:2815, 30 and 40 knots.
30:37Pull up the aerial image from the crash site.
30:39What direction was the C-130 flying?
30:50Right after the drop, the C-130 was flying south-south-east.
30:56With winds from the north-west, that would mean they would have had a tailwind.
30:59Tailwind is high as 40 knots.
31:05That's extreme.
31:08Sounds like wind shear.
31:09Wind shear is a sudden change in the wind's direction or speed,
31:25resulting in drastic changes to a plane's airspeed.
31:28At low altitudes, it can be deadly.
31:35If you have a sudden tailwind, that's going to rob you of airspeed.
31:39And you may have a struggle of staying in the air.
31:41All right, we've got the wind speed, now let's calculate the airspeed.
31:45To calculate the C-130's airspeed, investigators also factor in other weather data on the day.
31:53Temperature, atmospheric pressure.
31:59The airspeed was between 100 and 123 knots in the last 20 seconds of flight.
32:05There it is. The C-130's airspeed falls within its stall speed in those conditions.
32:19The team concludes the plane was hit by wind shear.
32:23Whoa, hang on.
32:25That resulted in a sudden increase in tailwind.
32:29Still not gaining altitude.
32:30Which robbed the plane of vital airspeed and caused it to stall.
32:35The C-130's airspeed falls within the airspeed.
32:45Here's what's troubling.
32:47Many planes experience wind shear events and don't crash.
32:50So why did the C-130?
32:52Investigators examine Coulson's onboard safety features to determine if their pilots were equipped with a warning system that could have helped them recover from wind shear events.
33:13Looks like some of the Coulson aircraft, like the 737, have an onboard wind shear warning system.
33:21Oh, we got wind shear.
33:29Wind shear. Wind shear. Wind shear.
33:31Wind shear. Affirmative.
33:32Terrain. Terrain. Pull up.
33:36Anytime you can put something in the cockpit that is going to give you the capability of identifying wind shear or the potential for wind shear, it is a win.
33:44Did the Coulson C-130 fire bomber also have a wind shear warning system?
33:57The C-130 did not have a wind shear warning system.
34:03The C-130 H model aircraft was built in the early 80s.
34:06Coulson believed that their highly experienced pilots would be better able to identify wind shear than an onboard warning system.
34:23Wind shear. Wind shear.
34:25They are trained to recognize the onset of wind shear through the degradation of the aircraft performance.
34:32Come on. Come on.
34:35A wind shear warning at a higher altitude would have allowed the crews to immediately respond to the situation.
34:43But if such a warning occurred at a low altitude, there may not have been sufficient time for the crew to recover.
35:00We are at 200 feet.
35:02Clear to drop.
35:02Dropping. Dropping. Dropping. Loads away.
35:07Investigators conclude that wind shear warning or not, at such a low altitude…
35:14Whoa. Hang on.
35:18Come on.
35:19…with 25,000 pounds of fire retardant still on board…
35:23Still not gaining altitude.
35:25…the C-130 fire bomber was just too heavy.
35:29If all the retardant had been dumped, it would have increased the aircraft's performance by about 50 percent.
35:36…and lost too much airspeed from the extreme wind shear event.
35:41Wind shear. Maximum thrust.
35:43As a result of flying into a combination of wind shear and tailwind at low altitude and a relatively slow speed, the aircraft's performance decayed into the stall region…
35:58We're stalling.
35:59…resulting in the aircraft colliding with terrain.
36:02But understanding why the C-130 crashed doesn't entirely explain the accident.
36:18Given the dangerous conditions, why was the fire bomber even out there?
36:23As aerial firefighting is operating within a very dynamic environment, it's important that any new information or changing information is communicated…
36:38…to ensure that the safety of flight and the operation as a whole is maintained to a high standard.
36:43…investigators examined the vast communication network involved in monitoring and dispatching firefighters the day the C-130 crashed.
36:55Who knew what and when?
36:56There is a large number of individuals at various different locations, all with different information.
37:05What were the pilots told about weather conditions in the drop zones?
37:09There are three planes tasked to Adamunabi on the day of the crash.
37:14First, the 737 departs at 11.27am.
37:22And what time did the C-130 depart?
37:26It departed at 12.05pm.
37:32And the bird dog's departure?
37:40What is it?
37:43At 12.04pm, virtually the same time the C-130 departed, the bird dog declined the task.
37:56We had learned through the investigation that the bird dog pilot assigned to Adamunabi had rejected that task.
38:10But why?
38:10Why did you reject the task?
38:26Investigators speak to the bird dog pilot to understand why he refused the assignment.
38:31I was in the snowy mountains a couple weeks earlier.
38:39There was heavy turbulence.
38:41The bird dog pilot experienced a downdraft and an uncommanded 30 to 40 degree roll.
38:47You were able to recover?
38:52Barely.
38:52I had to execute an escape maneuver.
38:54So, tell me about the day of the accident.
39:05The forecast and the conditions were even worse.
39:09I didn't think it was safe and I rejected the task.
39:12You told the Richmond Air Base manager.
39:18Did you tell anyone else?
39:19I thought they would inform the other aircraft.
39:30The bird dog pilot expected that their decision not to fly and to reject the task based on the weather
39:36would be communicated to other crews who were going to operate in that same area.
39:43The Richmond Air Base informed the state air desk that the bird dog rejected the task.
39:50But did the state air desk tell other crews?
39:55They didn't tell the 737 or the C-130.
40:00What time did the 737 leave Anamina be?
40:0312.25pm.
40:06Did they return to the area?
40:10Doesn't look like it.
40:12The conditions were really bad.
40:19The pilot in command warned the bird dog of the conditions and that they wouldn't be returning to the area.
40:25That's not all.
40:36They also reported the situation to Kuma Fire Control.
40:39Kuma, FCC, this is B-137.
40:47Conditions in Adaminibi are dangerous.
40:49Cancel all aircraft operating in the area.
40:52They even radioed the Richmond Air Base.
40:56Investigators learned the 737 made multiple efforts to advise others of the dangers in Adaminibi.
41:03Did anyone inform the C-130 of those messages?
41:09Not the Richmond Air Base, not the state air desk.
41:17No official body told the C-130 that conditions were worsening.
41:20While there was a lot of information that was being shared with all the flight crews on that particular day,
41:27There were missed opportunities to provide the crew of Bomber 134 with a lot more information about what was happening in this area.
41:39Looks like the 737 overheard the C-130 on the approach frequency and reached out to them.
41:48We just did a drop.
41:50Conditions are very bad.
41:52We had some crazy wind and visibility is really poor.
41:55You can go take a look, but I'm not going back there.
41:58Copy that V-137.
42:00We'll assess conditions carefully.
42:01Thanks for the warning.
42:03Despite warnings about the conditions at Adaminibi proving to be correct.
42:09The 737 crew is dead right.
42:11Kuma FCC, there's no way to make a drop here.
42:14Copy that.
42:15The crew of B-134 was sent to a second location just 10 minutes away at peak view.
42:22Your new heading is 085.
42:25Copy that Kuma FCC 085.
42:31Even though it was the C-130 crew's decision,
42:35they didn't get a complete picture of the risky conditions they were flying into.
42:38If additional sources had warned the C-130 of the conditions in the area,
42:43the crew may have rejected the task at peak view.
42:47The ability of flight crews to make the most informed decision about the safety of continuing
42:54these operations in a high-risk environment relies on clear, solid communication of all of the available information,
43:01whether that be from local crews and their activities or from task projections based on previous experience.
43:08In the ATSB's final report, they make many detailed recommendations,
43:19including fitting wind shear warning systems on all C-130 fire bombers.
43:25Above all, the ATSB highlights the need for new procedures for making risk-based decisions.
43:31Aerial firefighting pilots are not reckless individuals, they're very smart and methodical.
43:41This is definitely a brotherhood of pilots, and I believe that in aerial firefighting,
43:48when a pilot's lost, it's not only felt by one person and their family, the families of the pilots, the company,
43:57but it's felt throughout the whole industry.
44:03Erm, there are no other people who have done work for us in this situation.
44:13This is Blaze Islander, they're very smart and diligent.
44:16This is thunder, I'll help you know.
44:17I'm here with you for success, thanks for listening.
44:20You've got to get to know this now.
44:22It's a big level for the first time,
44:24it's been a great team.
44:26I have to become a good team,
44:28I do have to go back to the interview,
44:30I have to get to know this conversation.