Ian McBeth’s eldest daughter has graduated from high school. His son has a driver’s licence and loves tinkering with his truck. His youngest daughter just won a wrestling state championship.
Those are the things the pilot and firefighter did not live to see, his life cut short by a plane crash during the Black Summer bushfires.
He was one of three American air crew who died when their firefighting air tanker crashed in southern NSW in January 2020, as blazes raged across the state.
“In our 20 years together we brought three children into this world,” Mr McBeth’s widow Bowdie told a Sydney inquest on Monday afternoon.
“If you were to ask me how old they are I would struggle because in the last three years they have gone from 17, 13 and 10 to ages he wouldn’t recognise.
“He’s already missed so much.”
The long-running inquest into the 2019-20 bushfire season has spent a week examining the deaths of Captain McBeth, 44, first officer Paul Clyde Hudson, 42, and flight engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr, 43, who were killed in the crash on January 23.
Through tears Mrs McBeth said the couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary just before the crash by travelling together in a campervan.
“I remember thinking, ‘that’s when you know you’re really happy with somebody, when you can spend 10 days in a small RV and wish it was 10 more’,” she said.
Mr McBeth was a caring and kind man, who lived a life full of adventure and fun.
“Ian was the type of person who had so much energy that when you touched him, it was palpable,” Mrs McBeth said.
Mr DeMorgan’s mother Linda described her family’s shattered lives after the crash. His father cannot bear to go to the cemetery and his sister regularly sends flowers to his grave as she struggles through deep grief.
Mr DeMorgan decided he wanted to fly after watching an air show as an eight-year-old and went on to spend 24 years in the air force.
“He was a very much loved part of our family. Rick also was a friend, colleague and mentor to all he served with over his career,” she said in a statement read to the court.
He was remembered as a loving, funny and generous uncle and father-of-two, as photographs of him holding his infant children were played in the courtroom.
Mr Hudson’s widow Noreen also watched the inquest in Sydney.
State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan said the inquest had examined the deaths of 25 people during Black Summer, but the American men’s stories were especially poignant.
“Rick, Ian and Paul have a very special place in the hearts of everyone in this country,” she said.
“I thank you and I thank them for the service they provided, leaving their own families and their own homes in coming to protect us.”
Earlier, the inquest heard the Richmond air base received formal details of the crew’s task, including destination coordinates, two hours after they were deployed and just minutes before the crash.
NSW Rural Fire Service field operations deputy commissioner Peter McKechnie said it was optimal for crews to have all mission information, but it was not always possible on extreme fire days.
The inquest will hear closing submissions in May.
