Chinese Z-8 crash during fire fighting operations

On Monday 10 May 2021, two pilots were killed after a China Armed Police Forest Force Z-8AWJS (WJ560308, msn Z8AWJS-08) crashed in Erhai Lake in Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province, during a fire fighting operation.

There were four crew members in the helicopter during the mission, and the other two are still missing, said the local government in a statement. A total of sixteen boats and more than 490 rescuers have begun to search and rescue efforts at the scene for the missing crew members.

Social media showed video footage of the helicopter while picking up some water in its underslung bambi bucket close to the shore, it started spinning and falling into the water. During the rapid descent, the tail boom broke off and flames started to appear in the helicopter's gear box.

The fatal Z-8 participated in a nearby bush fire in which a total of 2,532 people were mobilized to extinguish the fire, which scorched some 48 hectares of land, according to the forest and grassland fire prevention and control headquarters in Dali.

The China Army Aviation has a detachment of Z-8s stationed at Machang, and forms the Helicopter detachment Yunnan, with Z-8 serials in the WJ5603xx range. According to our database there are ten Z-8s active, but even though the construction number for this one fits the other Z-8s, we still require confirmation.

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