Americas

Americas

Firefighting C-130 crashes in U.S.

03 July 2012 02:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA.A firefighting C-130 cargo plane has crashed in South Dakota while combating wild fire there, U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday. The military has put all such planes on operational hold, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Announced the incident in a White House statement, Obama said the military plane from the North Carolina Air National Guard crashed Sunday while supporting firefighting efforts in South Dakota. Full details of the crash were under investigation.

"The airmen who attack these fires from above repeatedly confront dangerous conditions in an effort to give firefighters on the ground a chance to contain these wildfires -- to save homes, businesses, schools, and entire communities," said Obama.

The crashed C-130 was equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS). Military officials said the crash happened in the southwest of South Dakota at about 6:30 p.m. mountain time Sunday.

"There were casualties," U.S. Northern Command officials said in a written statement Monday. "We will provide further details on the status of the casualties soon."

The cause of the crash has not been determined, and the incident is under investigation, officials said. At the time of the crash, the crew was fighting the White Draw Fire near Edgemont, South Dakota. In what officials describe as "a prudent measure", all MAFFS-equipped military C-130 aircraft have been placed on operational hold.

The crash was the first in the 40-year history of the MAFFS program, a joint Defense Department and U.S. Forest Service program that provides additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private air tankers are no longer able to meet the needs of the Forest Service. MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system owned by the Forest Service that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area a quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide.

It is not known when the MAFFS aircraft will resume operations.