Richmond plane crash: RFS firefighting aircraft crashes into hangar
The NSW Rural Fire Service will investigate how its $26.3 million firefighting aircraft lost control on the ground and crashed into a hangar.
NSW
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The Rural Fire Service will investigate how its $26.3 million bomber aeroplane crashed at the RAAF Richmond Airbase on Tuesday afternoon.
NSW RFS’ B-210, formerly known as Air Tanker 138, crashed into the hangar, crumpling the green steel door and resulting in minor damage to the aeroplane.
Nobody was injured in the slow speed crash but the RFS will still investigate how it occurred.
Inspector Ben Shepherd from the RFS said the aeroplane, which was named Marie Bashir, was in the process of being moved when the incident occured
“The aircraft has sustained damage to the nose cone and one of its engines,” he said.
“It will be grounded whilst repairs will be undertaken.”
The plane was named Marie Bashir after former NSW Governor of the same name.
The RFS were originally going to name the aeroplane plane after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son Archie.
That was until Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said no.
An official request was made to the couple for the state government to be able to use the name of their son for a Large Air Tanker it had purchased for the RFS.
It is understood the official rejection letter stated that the reason the couple did not want the airtanker to be named Archie was because their son had “not yet entered public life”.
Able to fly up to 850km/h while carrying 15,000 litres of water or retardant, the Marie Bashir played a critical role in helping ground crews fight the devastating summer bushfires during her first official deployment.
Based at the RAAF base in Richmond, the air tanker is available for use year-round and able to fly anywhere in NSW within the hour.
It comes after three US residents died when a water bombing aircraft on contract with the NSW RFS crashed while working on bushfires in the Snowy Monaro in January last year.
The men were all working for fire fighting contractors Coulson Aviation.
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