A search has been launched for a water tanker aircraft that went missing while fighting back Australia’s raging wildfires, with fears it may have crashed somewhere in New South Wales (NSW), according to the state’s Rural Fire Service.

The C-130 Hercules Large Air Tanker is thought to have gone down in NSW’s Snowy Monaro region on Thursday. While it remains unclear how many people were on board the tanker, several aircraft have been dispatched to the area to carry out a search, including a number of helicopters and a Boeing P-8A Poseidon military craft. Five ambulances are also en route to the area as part of the search and rescue operation.

Witnesses in the vicinity of Snowy Monaro told local media they saw a “ball of fire” in what they believe was a crash.

Boasting a 15,000-liter water reservoir, the C-130 Hercules is the largest aircraft in the Rural Fire Service’s fleet.

Source: RT