EC-GAS

This helicopter was photographed during a test flight at Patria Helicopter\\\\\\\'s maintenance facilities at Arlanda Airport. A major structural reparation had just been completed.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nThe Spanish helicopter was fighting a fire in Cortes de la Frontera, Málaga (southern Spain), in August 2004 when it was involved in an accident. The pilot was collecting water in a river that proved to be quite shallow. He lowered the aircraft slightly to obtain a sufficient volume of water in the belly-mounted tank. However, in that manoeuvre the aircraft struck some small trees with the tail rotor - which subsequently necessitated a forced landing. The pilot wasn’t hurt, but the machine obtained some structural damages. Those were later repaired at Patria Helicopters AB in Sweden and the helicopter was airborne again within 10 months after the accident.