Australia tanker crash: No cause established yet

The Canada-based owner of a fire-fighting plane that crashed while fighting wildfires in Australia last week, killing three American crew, said Monday the incident was "devastating."

Coulson Aviation chief executive Wayne Coulson described walking the fire-scorched crash site on Sunday where wreckage of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules is strewn in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales state.

He told reporters in Sydney on Monday that there's still no explanation for the tragedy.

He said the company's focus now is on providing support to the victims' families.

Ian McBeth of Great Falls, Montana, Paul Clyde Hudson of Buckeye, Arizona, and Rick A. DeMorgan of Navarre, Florida, died when their C-130 Hercules tanker crashed last Thursday after dumping fire retardant on a blaze northeast of the town of Cooma in southern New South Wales.

Coulson Aviation grounded its aircraft in New South Wales and neighboring Victoria after the crash.

Coulson said the crews had since returned to the skies, despite the lack of any explanation for the tragedy.

New South Wales state Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is leading the investigation and a preliminary report is planned to be released within 30 days.