April 25, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Be-200: released "out of battle" due to malfunction

The Russian “superweapon” Beriev Be-200, used by the Greek fire department to fight forest fires, was forced to leave the battlefield from the Varibobi fires due to a technical malfunction.

During an operation against a huge forest fire in Evia, the plane had an engine problem in the air. Two pilots managed to land on Beriev at Elefsina airport in western Attica.

Russian seaplane Beriev-200. putting out a fire in Athens

Russian seaplane Beriev-200, extinguishing a fire in Athens

Posted by Russian Athens – Russian Athens on Tuesday, August 3, 2021

On Tuesday, “Beriev” extinguished the fire in Varibobi until late at night, and the day before – in Rhodes.

The press service of Rostec later reported that the aircraft engine was not damaged. “While carrying out firefighting missions in Greece, the plane’s engine sensor was triggered. To assess the situation, the aircraft made a normal landing on two engines, without any damage.

A short analysis of the operation of systems and assemblies confirmed the full performance of the engine. After that, the plane continued to carry out tasks to extinguish the fires. In the coming days, the aircraft will undergo scheduled maintenance under the firefighting contract, ”the state corporation said in a statement.

Previously reportedthat fires in the northern suburbs of Athens have already destroyed about 100 houses. The village of Varibobi, a suburb of Athens, suffered the most damage. There, the fire covered about 1.2 thousand hectares of land. Due to the fire, 76 houses were completely burned down, another 18 were damaged.

The capital of Greece, Athens, was also under threat. Several hundred people were evacuated from the suburbs, all of them are accommodated in hotels. The roads leading to the affected areas have been closed.

The Beriev can carry up to 12,000 liters of water and is the largest aircraft used by Greece to extinguish forests and forest fires.

The Be-200 amphibious aircraft was developed in Russia in the 90s. The aircraft combines the functions of a boat and an aircraft and is intended for extinguishing large fires, search and rescue operations, protection of water surfaces, environmental missions and the transport of passengers and cargo. The Be-200 has no analogues in the world.





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