Introduced in 1997... 2,333 Dispatches and 2,521 Lives Rescued
Utilizing Disaster Safety Education Materials Exhibited at Jeonbuk 119 Safety Experience Center
Jeonbuk Fire Department's first helicopter (BK-117) held a retirement ceremony after 26 years of accident-free flights.
According to the Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters (Chief Jun Nak-dong) on the 19th, the retired BK-117 will be displayed at the Jeonbuk 119 Safety Experience Center and used as educational material for disaster safety training.
Introduced in January 1997 and launched in April of the same year, it flew a total of 4,040 hours over 26 years and responded to 2,333 missions. It extinguished 87 fires and was dispatched to 2,246 rescue and emergency scenes, saving 2,521 lives. During this period, it maintained an accident-free flight record.
By supporting the Jeonbuk region and neighboring provinces, it greatly contributed to the safety of residents by rescuing precious lives and extinguishing forest fires.
In April, during a large factory fire in Wanju-gun, helicopter number one played a significant role in shortening extinguishing time through aerial water drops, and in March, it transported a woman in her 40s who was unable to walk after slipping at the 700m point of Gubongsan in Jinan-gun to a hospital.
Jun Nak-dong, Chief of Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, said, "We will do our best to preserve the first fire helicopter as a historical artifact of firefighting and share safety culture with the residents."
Meanwhile, the newly introduced and operated Jeonbuk Fire Department's second helicopter (AW-139) is equipped with advanced devices such as the latest autopilot system, night vision goggles, and searchlights, enabling missions both day and night, with a maximum water capacity of 1,500ℓ. This is more than twice the capacity of the existing helicopter (670ℓ).
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