Three Americans have died in an air tanker crash while fighting wildfires in the Australian state of New South Wales, according to reports. The water-bombing tanker had been chartered by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, and was fighting a bushfire near the town of Cooma, in the southeast part of the state.
The crew members belonged to Coulson Aviation, an aerial firefighting company contracted with the New South Wales Rural Firefighting Service, CNN reports. According to an NSW RFS commissioner, contact was lost with the plane just before 1:30 p.m. local time on Thursday.