Firefighting Aircrane helicopters get all-clear

A fleet of firefighting helicopters has been cleared to resume flying after being grounded when one crashed into a dam.

The crashed Aircrane submerged in the Gippsland dam. Picture: ABC News

A fleet of specially built firefighting helicopters has been cleared to resume flying after being grounded when one crashed into a dam, forcing its crew to swim to safety.

The Sikorsky S-64E was being used to fight a fire in Gippsland, Victoria, when it crashed at 7pm on Monday.

Air safety investigators are looking into whether thick smoke or wind were factors in the crash, which led to similar aircraft being grounded on Monday night.

By yesterday afternoon, the remaining five Aircranes in Australia — one in Victoria, two in NSW and one each in South Australia and Western Australia — were cleared to resume flying ahead of total fire bans in Victoria’s Mallee, Wimmera and South West districts today.

Captain Keith Gill, co-pilot Mike Davey and engineer Bill Gray were spotted swimming to shore by pilots in another aircraft.

Both pilots have helped to fight fires in Australia in the past, and were being interviewed by air safety officials yesterday.

Darrin McKenzie, the deputy chief fire officer at Forest Fire Management Victoria, said the helicopter, nicknamed “Christine”, was hovering above the dam when it lost altitude.

“During a refilling operation at a dam at Mount Gregory, the aircraft crash-landed into the dam about 7pm,” Mr McKenzie said.

“Fortunately, the three crew … were able to get out of the aircraft safely and swim to the shore of the dam where they received medical treatment.”

The three, all from North America, were taken to hospital but were released yesterday morning. “They’re very shaken, they’ve got bruises after the impact,” Mr McKenzie said.

“But thankfully they’re all fine and heading back to Melbourne.”

He said the area was heavily forested and surrounded by hills, and pilots generally were concerned about smoke and downward winds when flying in such areas. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the cause of the crash.

Valued at $30 million, the Aircranes have a 9000-litre water carrying capacity, making them a valuable resource for firefighting operations.

Kestrel Aviation, which operates the Aircranes in partnership with US company Erickson, was providing assistance to the ATSB as it investigated the crash.

Kestrel managing director Ray Cronin said although the cause of the crash remained under investigation, he was confident the Aircrane involved was “100 per cent serviceable prior to impact”. However, it was unlikely it would be returned to service.

“There’s a large amount of damage to the Aircrane and (it) having been underwater won’t help the reinstatement of the Aircrane back into a working unit,” Captain Cronin said. “We are just grateful the crew is safe, and grateful to the firefighters on the bank who ­assisted them.”

Mr McKenzie said the crew’s training had prepared them for such an emergency. “They’re very versed in what they do (and) they travel all over the world,” he said.

“These aircraft are based in North America, they spend their winter — our summer season — down here. They’re very experienced crews.

“Fortunately they were quite close to the water (so) they haven’t fallen a great deal of distance before the impact.”

The return of the Aircranes to service comes as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts temperatures in the mid-to-high 30s for much of Victoria.