Audio has emerged of the terrified call for help made as the C-130 water bomber crashed in a ball of flames while fighting fires near the NSW Snowy Mountains this afternoon.

The RFS lost contact with the large air tanker at about 1.30pm, with a panicked call coming in not long after that saying the plane had crashed.

The audio of the call was broadcast by Nine News.

"Fire comms…message red speak to your captain. Message this is red," a man could be heard saying.

The man says the word "crashed" before the audio cuts out briefly.

"Yeah fire comms…it's just a ball of flames. Over."

We hoped the worst was over, but tonight, we have a fresh tragedy to report from the state's bushfire zone.



A large air tanker, heading to the Snowy Mountains, has crashed – killing 3 people on board. #9News pic.twitter.com/hvarZdi4zi — Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) January 23, 2020 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The crash killed all three occupants on board, who were all US citizens.

The plane, known as Zeus, was owned and operated by Canada-based company Coulson Aviation and contracted to the RFS.

The company’s owners are travelling to Australia and are expected to arrive in the next 24 hours.

“The aircraft had departed Richmond with a load of retardant and was on a firebombing mission,” the company said in a statement.

“The accident is reported to be extensive and we are deeply saddened to confirm there were three fatalities.”

Authorities said the names of the victims wouldn’t be released until their families had been informed. All three were US firefighters.

The cause of the crash will be investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau with support from NSW Police.