Australian Foreign Minister Maryse Payne is offering her condolences to the families of three American crew members killed in a plane crash. Their Hercules C-130 aerial water tanker crashed in New South Wales as they fought wildfires. No cause for the crash has been identified, but it will be investigated. Port Alberni-based Coulson Aviation grounded other firefighting aircraft as a precaution. That has reduced the number of planes available to firefighters in New South Wales and neighbouring Victoria state. The Hercules can drop more than 15-thousand litres of fire retardant in a single pass.
