Story of Vietnamese helicopter carrying... 4-ton water bucket to put out fire in Indonesia

Helicopters of the 18th Army Corps fly to fight forest fires in Indonesia

The 18th Corps under the Vietnam Helicopter Corporation (Ministry of National Defense) directly provides helicopter services for the country's economic development needs and performs military and defense missions.

Operating in the sky, the "flight paths" of the 18th Corps are not always "smooth", there are many times when the Corps has to overcome bumpy roads like the "shocks" of an airplane in the sky...

2015 is considered a time of new challenges for the 18th Corps. The continuous decrease in world oil prices has seriously affected the flight operations serving oil and gas exploration and exploitation, causing the unit's revenue to decrease.

Lieutenant Colonel Bui The Anh - Political Commissar of the 18th Corps - said: "There were periods when the salaries of cadres and officers were lower than the military rank salaries. On the one hand, we stabilized the ideological situation of cadres, employees and workers, and on the other hand, we aroused the dynamism and creativity of Uncle Ho's soldiers on the economic "front" to find new routes."

Through research and evaluation, in 2016, the 18th Corps “opened” firefighting flights in Indonesia and signed a contract to export aircraft to India. This is a completely new type of flight for the wings of the 18th Corps.

A helicopter after a mission landed at Vung Tau airport

Pilot Tran Hong Nam - Southern Helicopter Company, one of those who participated in the forest fire fighting flight in Indonesia - confided: "One of the biggest difficulties was carrying a water bucket, with a total weight of nearly 4 tons, to "attack" the fire accurately".

When helicopters transport water in the air, vibration, inertia, wind... cause many difficulties in approaching the fire point.

According to pilot Tran Hong Nam, the training must start with hoisting concrete blocks with the same weight as a fire bucket, taking off and landing, then flying maneuvers. When proficient with flying with a standard water bucket, it is hung on the helicopter, then training for takeoff, scooping water and dropping “water bombs” on the simulated fire point.

The training was completed within 2 months. The pilots and related components confidently participated in forest fire fighting by helicopter in Indonesia, and were highly appreciated by the enemy for their efficiency as well as the regularity and discipline of the soldiers.

In 2018, the 18th Corps continued to provide 2 Mi flight crews to carry out forest fire fighting missions in Indonesia.

Corps 18 performs the mission of flying a private jet to serve Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in 2017.

To develop sustainably, we cannot only rely on flights serving oil and gas exploration and exploitation, but also need to expand to many other types of flights such as tourism flights, medical emergencies; Maintain the export of helicopter flights abroad, meeting the needs of integration and economic development of the country.

Since 2015, the Ministry of National Defense has assigned the 18th Corps the task of flying private jets to serve the leaders, the Party, the State, and the army. In recent years, the military and defense missions of the 18th Corps have become increasingly demanding. In 2017, the 18th Corps officially began to carry out the tasks of level 2 combat readiness, search and rescue, etc.