Three aerial firefighters onboard a large air tanker that crashed in the Snowy Mountains while fighting the Black Summer bushfires have been remembered as adventurous and courageous at an inquest into their deaths.
Americans Ian McBeth, Paul Hudson and Rick De Morgan Junior died fighting the Good Good bushfire when their C-130 plane stalled and crashed seconds after a retardant drop on January 23, 2020.
On the final day of the inquest, Bowdie Mcbeth described her husband, who was the pilot of the plane, as an adventurous man and said she wanted him to be remembered as more than just the number of his air tanker — 134.
"Ian was and is more than 134. He was our life," Ms McBeth said.
"He had a way of living and working that dulls most of our lives in comparison."
In a family statement, Rick De Morgan Jr's mother Linda described him as "kind-hearted and adventurous".
"Rick wanted to be a pilot from the age of eight, joined the [US] Air Force at 18, and pursued his love of flying," Ms De Morgan said.
"Words cannot express how proud our family is of him."
No concrete conclusions
While it has been widely accepted that the aircraft stalled before it crashed, no-one is any closer to understanding why.
On the final day of the inquest, Coulson Aviation Flight Operations director John Gallaher said he was still at a loss despite an investigation.
"From the day of this crash, and when I first found out about it, we made a commitment internally that we were going to do everything we could to learn from what happened, but we also committed to ourselves that we would not act on anything but fact," Mr Gallaher said.
"Unfortunately, nothing has come out of this accident that is the proverbial smoking gun for us to look at.
"We'll never know the answer to what caused them to lose air speed that brought them to a stall configuration," he said.
The inquest has previously heard pilot Ian McBeth was experienced and had completed more than 900 retardant drops on bushfires.
It also heard the crew appeared to have done everything right in terms of safety protocols as they determined whether to complete the retardant drop.
RFS acknowledges sacrifice
Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Peter McKechnie offered his condolences to the families of the trio ahead of giving evidence today.
He held back tears as he spoke.
"On behalf of the NSW Fire Service I'd like to offer my deepest condolences on behalf of the whole organisation," he said.
"They'll be remembered by the entire country for their bravery, courage and for helping fight some of the worst fires this country has ever seen.
"I know I speak for many firefighters who were tirelessly working on firegrounds during that season, who would look to the skies and feel a sense of relief when those large air tanker crews flew overhead to assist them," he said.
The NSW coroner also thanked the men for their service, and for leaving their families to protect the people of NSW.
The inquest is part of the NSW Bushfires Coronial Inquiry, which will continue later this week.
