Battling blazes after dark: Korea deploys nighttime helitankers to fight forest fires
When dusk fell across Korea's rugged mountainous landscape, aerial firefighting fleets were historically forced to land, leaving ground crews to battle encroaching blazes against the cover of darkness. That tactical gap is now closing as forestry authorities embrace specialized night operations. The Andong Regional Aviation Office, under the Korea Forest Service, said it has qualified two pilots…
As the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness fell over Korea's rugged, mountainous terrain, traditional aerial firefighting operations faced a new challenge: battling blazes in the absence of daylight. Korea's forestry authorities have now taken steps to close this tactical gap by equipping their firefighting fleet with specialized night operations capabilities.
Under the leadership of the Andong Regional Aviation Office, which falls under the Korea Forest Service, two pilots have been qualified for night vision goggle (NVG) operations aboard the S-64E Skycrane, a heavy-lift helitanker designed for dropping thousands of liters of water in a single pass. This development establishes a dedicated nighttime firefighting capability in North Gyeongsang Province, an area that has historically been vulnerable to destructive seasonal fires.
The qualification process, which took place from late May through early August, involves an intensive multi-stage training program. Pilots underwent rigorous ground instruction, flight-simulator training, and drills before advancing to advanced tactical night flights using NVGs. The training included high-intensity exercises around Andong Lake and Imha Dam, where the pilots gained valuable experience in the challenging conditions they would face in the field.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
