‘I thought it was going to explode:’ Dramatic footage shows water bomber crash in France

Terrifying footage shows the moment a helicopter crashes into a lake as it picks up water to tackle raging wildfires in France. Watch the video.

Shocking footage has emerged of the moment a helicopter fighting fires in France spins out of control and crashes into a lake.

The aircraft lost control trying to pick up water over Rosporden Lake in France to tackle local wildfires.

The Morane 29 water bomber had taken on the tricky task multiple times but this time the routine operation didn’t go as planned.

A Morane 29 water bomber was recorded attempting to pick up water in Rosporden, France. Picture: Supplied

The footage shows the chopper dropping down towards the lake with a red bucket on a rope, aiming to scoop up water supplies.

It appears to edge closer towards the surface of the water at some speed and after the bucket is dunked the vessel continues downwards – getting partially submerged in the water.

Both the landing skids and bottom half of the tail rota dipped into the water during the water collection.

Despite the pilot managing to lift the helicopter up and out of the lake, it started to rotate anti-clockwise and pick up speed.

The swirling chopper then spun out of control until it crashed into the water causing a colossal splash.

Terrified onlookers can be heard screaming and shouting in French as the aircraft crashes, flinging debris out across the lake.

The chopper was seen spiralling out of control as onlookers screamed. Picture: Supplied

Thankfully, the two men in the aircraft were able to escape the sinking vehicle unscathed.

Both were able to escape the helicopter unharmed and could swim out to safety.

Horrified observers described the event, fearing the chopper would explode on impact.

“It dipped way too low and was descending fast. I thought it was going to explode, break into pieces,” witness David said, according to The Sun.

“Once it flipped, it went in all directions.”

Rosporden authorities praised the air craft crew for keeping calm during the collision.

They applauded the “professionalism, composure, and courage of the pilot and the on-board firefighter” and said it “reminds us that every day, firefighters in Finistere, and those who work alongside them, risk their lives to save people and protect property”.

Rosporden Mayor Michel Loussouarn announced on social media that authorities were mitigate potential pollution in the lake.

This was the 27th water collection mission the helicopter was sent on.

A vegetation fire urgent extermination as it was raging through the Beuzec-Cap-Sizun region.

France has been tackling wildfires for the pat few weeks, with flames ravaging villages across the country.

The French crew were able to swim to safety after the collision. Picture: Supplied

THOUSANDS DEAD IN ‘MOST INTENSE’ SPANISH HEATWAVE ON RECORD

A 16-day heatwave Spain suffered this month was “the most intense on record”, the national meteorological agency said on Sunday.

With forest fires still burning across northern and western Spain, the AEMET meteorological agency said provisional readings for the August 3-18 heatwave exceeded the last record, set in July 2022, and showed an average temperature 4.6C higher than previous events.

AEMET said a 10-day period from August 8 to August 17, was the hottest 10 consecutive days recorded in Spain since “at least 1950”.

Tourists cool off in a fountain during a 16-day heatwave Spain suffered in August, "the most intense on record", the national meteorological agency said. Picture: AFP

The August heatwave exacerbated tinderbox conditions that have fuelled wildfires which have killed four people and forced thousands out of their homes.

Four people have also died in fires in Portugal, where emergency services are still struggling to control the blazes.

More than 1,100 deaths in Spain have been linked to the August heatwave, according to an estimate released Tuesday by the Carlos III Health Institute.

A wildfire burns near the village of Esposende, in northwestern Spain. With forest fires still burning across northern and western Spain, the AEMET meteorological agency said the heatwave exceeded the last record. Picture: AFP

The institute had already said that 1,060 deaths in July could be attributed to excess heat, a 50 per cent rise on the figure for July 2024.

Since it began keeping records in 1975, AEMET has registered 77 heatwaves in Spain, with six going 4C or more above the average. Five of those have been since 2019.

Scientists say climate change is driving longer, more intense and more frequent heatwaves worldwide.

The agency said that it is “a scientific fact that current summers are hotter than in previous decades”.

“Each summer is not always going to be hotter than the previous one, but there is a clear trend towards much more extreme summers. What is key is adapting to, and mitigating, climate change,” it added.

Residents use fire beaters to battle a wildfire in Colinas del Campo de Martin Moro Toledano in Iguena municipality, province of Leon, northwestern Spain. Picture: AFP

Fires burning in northern regions have destroyed more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres) in the past weeks and a record of more than 400,000 hectares since the start of the year.

Authorities say they are only now starting to control the fires. Firefighters and waterbombing planes from nine European countries have been helping Spanish emergency services.

Hundreds of people are still kept away from their homes though many have started returning in the past 24 hours.

People shout slogans and hold placards reading 'No more fires' as they gather in Verin, Spain. Local people in Galicia have been fighting fires alongside emergency services and are protesting at the lack of involvement from the government. Picture: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

The Ourense region has experienced a prolonged heatwave of 16 days this summer, with daily temperatures reaching 45 degrees. The Spanish army has deployed nearly 2000 troops to help firefighters, and four people have died in Spain's worst wildfires on record. Picture: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

Portugal announced its fourth fatality from the current wildfires on Saturday. The 45-year-old fireman had been critically injured battling the flames last week.

More than 60,000 hectares of land have burned in Portugal in the current heatwave and more than 278,000 hectares since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, the biggest fear for senior citizens taking refuge in Benavente, a town in a zone ravaged by vast wildfires in Spain, is that “everything they own could burn”, its mayor Beatriz Asensio told AFP.

She was speaking as she visited a temporary shelter in her municipality, in Zamora province in the Castile and Leon region, hosting residents from surrounding areas who had been evacuated ahead of fast-moving fire fronts.

Many were elderly, reflecting the demographic decline in much of rural Spain. Zamora has the greatest concentration of residents in Spain aged over 80, representing 12.3 per cent of the province’s population, according to official statistics.

Ourense, in the neighbouring region of Galicia – also weathering wildfires – was close behind, with 12.1 per cent.

The fires burning in the north and west of Spain have destroyed more than 350,000 hectares in the past weeks, killing four people. Authorities say they are only now starting to come under control.

Local women watch as car and properties are burned along the street on August 20, 2025 in Caridade, Ourense province, Spain. Picture: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

“In Zamora province, we have an extremely large number of elderly, a lot of people who live alone, a little helpless,” said Jesus Jose Gonzalez Tejada, the commander of Zamora’s civil guard, which was tasked with evacuating the at-risk residents.

“There are times you have to remind them: ‘Please get your medicine, things you need, some clothes, your mobile phone to be able to tell your family, a charger, very important,” he told AFP.

Among many of the elderly, a shared fear raised its head: that of irreparable loss, the possibility of needing to rebuild but lacking the youth and money to do so.

Amelia Bueno, 79, from the northern Asturias region, has spent more than 30 summers vacationing in Ribadelago Nuevo, a lakeside village in Zamora, from which she was evacuated.

A burned sign translated reads "Don't light a fire" surrounded by forest burned after wildfires hit the area near Cernego, Ourense province, Spain. Picture: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

She never sought to holiday anywhere else. “I’ve spent 32 years coming for vacation … Don’t take me away or send me someplace else,” she said.

Yet, she accepts with resignation the situation she is facing. “The most important thing is that no one gets hurt. And that we’re all right and being looked after. And that this is the hardest thing that could happen to us.” Pedro Fernandez, 85, followed a well-trodden path, of leaving when young to live and work in Barcelona, but hanging on to his parents’ home in the region, in Vigo de Sanabria, for his vacations.

Livestock enclosures are shown burned following wildfires in Cernego, Ourense province, Spain. Four people have died in Spain's worst wildfires on record, and 1100 from the 16 day heatwave. Picture: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

“Starting over again at my age wouldn’t make any sense,” he told AFP. “I’m really afraid for my house,” he said. “I inherited the house from my father, and if it’s destroyed it can’t be rebuilt. Building a house like that today would cost a fortune.” In his case, though, fortune smiled.

Fernandez and others from Vigo de Sanabria were able to return to the village on Friday, where they found their properties undamaged.

The same cannot be said of many other Spanish villages, where the flames have consumed the buildings – and with them the past and their memories.

– with AFP

Originally published as ‘I thought it was going to explode:’ Dramatic footage shows water bomber crash in France