March 16 - Helicopter Express, based in Georgia, USA, contracted Volga-Dnepr Airlines to transport four helicopters to fight the outbreak of wildfires in the Chilean countryside.
Helicopter Express, which delivers airbone fire-fighting operations and provides services such as aerial water delivery, prescribed burning, rappelling operations, and personnel delivery, was contracted by the Chilean government to tackle the wildfires in central and southern Chile.
One of Volga-Dnepr's AN-124-100 freighters landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to load three Bell 2015 helicopters, a K-MAX 1200 helicopter and a flatbed truck and trailer for the flight to Santiago, Chile. The total weight of the payload onboard the AN-124-100, which took up the entire floor of the cargo hold, was 25 tonnes.
According to Volga-Dnepr, the helicopters were transported without them requiring dismantling, other than removing the rotor blades, which meant they could commence operations almost immediately on arrival at their destination.
