French firefighter helicopter crashes while trying to collect water

A firefighter helicopter has crashed into a pond while collecting water to put out wildfires in France.

Video showed the chopper descending towards the surface to scoop water into a “bambi bucket”, a flexible container installed under the fuselage of the aircraft.

But during the operation, the helicopter appeared to descend too quickly, sending it into a tailspin before it crashed into the water on its side.

The pilot and firefighter on board were able to extract themselves from the wreckage and were helped ashore. The local prefecture said both were “safe and sound”.

In an interview with France3, local resident Thibault, 22, said he was enjoying a Sunday afternoon with his friends in the commune of Rosporden in Finistère when the helicopter appeared nearby.

He grabbed his phone, thinking he would capture an “impressive” scooping operation, but instead caught the helicopter crash.

“After I took the video, a friend of mine takes his paddleboard and starts going over to them. They got out and said ‘we’re not hurt, everything’s fine’,” the bystander told French news channel BFMTV.

The incident occurred around 7pm on Sunday evening, after the helicopter had already made 27 drops earlier in the day. It was extinguishing vegetation fires in the Finistere department of Beuzec-Cap-Sizun.

The last dispatch was to extinguish a fire that was threatening a home in the Rosporden area.

The French Civil Aviation Authority has opened a safety investigation into the incident.

The Morane 29 helicopter has been leased by the department every summer since 2023 to fight fires. It was deployed 33 times this year, carrying out 154 drops.

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