Russian Be-200ES Takes Part in 200 Fire-Extinguishing Missions in Turkey

Russian Be-200ES flew amphibious planes have flown over 200 times in three months to extinguish forest fires in Turkey, near Antalaya, Izmir and Bodrum.

Since June 16, the crews have participated in the elimination of large fires at complex and strategically important facilities and locations. The total flight time was about 450 hours.

The Be-200ES plane was also involved in extinguishing a fire that broke out at fireworks factory near Sakaria city. It took the crew less than two hours to localize and completely eliminate the combustion. Another major fire - in the Dardanelles Strait - was extinguished in less than a day, avoiding disruptions in the movement of ships.

The amphibious aircraft dropped over 300 tons of water onto the fires. The planes will remain on duty until October 15, state-run Rostec said in a release.

“Our Be-200ES aircraft fulfilled all the assigned tasks to extinguish forest fires, in total, dropping more than 4000 tons of water. Our test pilots operated in a difficult fire situation in rugged mountainous terrain, took water from the surface of mountain lakes and the open sea, made more than 500 water intakes,” said the head of the complex brigade of the TANTK. G.M. Berieva Alexander Ternovoy.

Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry had approached Russia with a request for aid in fighting forest fires ahead of the hot season. “The successful operation of the aircraft in real conditions will allow cooperation with Turkish partners and, inter alia, discussing the prospects for the purchase of Russian Be-200ES amphibious aircraft to renew the fleet of the Turkish fire service,” Rostec said.