Pilot rescued from helicopter crash into Douro river in Lamego

A firefighting helicopter with six people on board crashed Friday in the Douro River, Samodynes, Lamego. The plane was carrying five soldiers from the GNR’s Emergency Protection and Assistance Unit (UEPS) and sank. The pilot was rescued alive by a tourist boat, but the five soldiers were missing, the GNR confirmed.

For what? CM It was possible to establish that he was a 44-year-old civilian pilot, a native of the Tras-os-Montes region.

The accident occurred when the helicopter was returning from putting out a fire in Baiao.

“Today, August 30, at 12:36, while participating in operations to extinguish a rural fire raging in Gestaso, in Baiao, a light helicopter for rural firefighting, with operational code H16, crashed, forcing him to abandon the aircraft. means on the Douro River, near the city of Samodaines,” he describes in detail National Office of Emergency Management and Civil Protection (AENPK).

The emergency helicopter, model AS350 – Écureuil, is a light attack helicopter for initial firefighting, operated by HTA Helicópteros, based in Loulé, in the Algarve, but operating from the Armamar resource centre.

There are 95 militants on site, supported by 28 vehicles and three aircraft. A diving team has already been called in and is preparing to enter the river.

The alarm was received at around 12:30.

The causes of the accident are currently unknown.

A source at the General Aviation and Rail Accidents Authority (GPIAAF) told Lusa that they would send a team to the scene and begin an investigation into the incident.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro heads to the scene.

Update