Page 71 - World Airnews Magazine October Edition 2020

NEWS

CORAIL HELICOPTERES ON THE

FRONT LINE

But once the pilot door had been removed, been helped by the weather conditions
equipped with its hook and a sling, it in the southern winter, with moderate
After the Japanese bulk carrier instantly became a high-performance aerial temperatures and winds.
Wakashio ran aground on a reef in work platform with Jeremy at the controls. In a second phase, the removal of
Mauritius. Very quickly, Corail Helicopteres “The first days of work were intense,” pollutants still present on the ship was
mobilised an Airbus Helicopters H130 to he said. “I started by transporting a large carried out with IBC tanks, which can carry
fight the threat of pollution. amount of equipment to the wrecked ship - several hundred litres of pollutants. The
“We officially started the operation on pumps and generators - so that the salvage H130 transported them to the ship on the
Saturday, 2 August,” said Jeremy Heuls, the team could get to work. The heaviest load sling four at a time, then brought them
chief pilot of Corail Helicopters Mauritius. weighed in at almost 1.2 tonnes. We also back full one by one to the shore.
“We had an H130 available, and help for delivered our ‘task specialists’ on board, “We transported a total of 98 in one
three days from our AS355NP from Reunion either using the boat’s helipad, or doing day,” said Jeremy. By mid-September, after
Island. The Ecureuil then returned to its skid touches when the ship was listing too more than 30 days of operations, he had
base and the H130 now remains the only much. Our mechanics and our two other exceeded 90 hours of flight time on the job.
aerial work helicopter being used at the site pilots received special training for the work With his H130, he had transported
of the shipwreck.” on the different ships and work sites on more than 100 tonnes of equipment and
In the first days after the accident, the shore. They did a great job and without participated in removing at least 50 tonnes
H130 transported equipment - pumps them, it would have been a different of crude oil. An exceptional achievement
and generators - to the wrecked ship, the mission…” for the first-ever sling operation in
heaviest of which weight almost 1.2 tonnes. The proximity of the vessel to the shore Mauritius.
The aircraft was stationed in Mauritius has been a positive factor, as turnarounds Corail Hélicoptères has a main base on
for passenger transport and tourist flights. times have been fast. Operations have also Reunion Island. Q

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World Airnews | October Extra 2020
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