[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi-do fire department helicopter has achieved a 23-year accident-free record.
The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 9th that the Gyeonggi-do Special Response Team 119 Aviation Unit fire helicopter has achieved 15,000 hours of accident-free flight time over 23 years since its first flight on August 22, 1999, until August 4 of this year.
The Gyeonggi-do Special Response Team 119 Aviation Unit has been operating three helicopters since the establishment of the fire aviation unit in September 1991, introducing Kamov in 1997, Dauphin in 2001, and Agusta in 2010.
Following the achievement of 10,000 hours of accident-free flight in July 2016, a new milestone of 15,000 hours accident-free flight was reached after six years.
Among all fire aviation units nationwide, the Gyeonggi-do Special Response Team 119 Aviation Unit is the first to achieve 15,000 hours of accident-free flight.
The 15,000 hours of accident-free flight is equivalent to approximately 3.3 million kilometers, which is about 82 times around the Earth, or 625 days spent in the sky.
Since 1999, the Gyeonggi-do Special Response Team 119 Aviation Unit has been dispatched over 16,000 times, saving more than 7,500 precious lives while carrying out its missions.
On the 7th, the Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters held a commemorative event for 15,000 hours of accident-free safe flight, attended by Nam Hwa-young, head of the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, and members of the Special Response Team, to celebrate the accident-free operation and pledge safe flight.
At the event, Head Nam Hwa-young said, "It was thanks to the efforts of the Special Response Team members who silently carried out their duties solely for the safety of the residents that we were able to achieve the great record of 15,000 hours of accident-free flight," and added, "Please continue to devote your capabilities to creating a safer Gyeonggi-do through flawless disaster site response."
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