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"They made history". Portugal says goodbye to Alouette helicopters after 57 years
Equipment made its debut in the Colonial War, in June 1963.
16 June 2020 - 16:19
The National Defense Administration traveled today to Air Base 11 (BA11), in Beja,
where he flew on board the helicopter Alouette III (ALIII),
to mark the end of service of this aircraft, after 57 years of operation in the Air Force Portuguese (FAP).
João Gomes Cravinho considered that the ALIII,
whose first helicopter made its debut flight in the colonial war, on June 18, 1963, in Luanda, "made history".
"They were bought to make the colonial war,
that was what happened during those years, between 1963 and 1974" and, since then and until today,
"they fulfilled countless civilian and military missions, but mainly civilians.
They were countless lives that were saved for these ALIII ", he highlighted.
The helicopters, from Squadron 552, "also served, over four decades,
for aerial coordination of firefighting", also indicated, as an example, the minister.
Colonial war helicopter accomplishes one of the last missions in the fires
The ALIII "marked the FAP, marked the life of the Portuguese", even of many who, without being aware of the aircraft,
"benefited from the work done by generations and generations of military personnel
who operated these extraordinary machines".
"The latter of the ALIII still capable of flying ends its usefulness tomorrow [Wednesday] and is a historic moment.
After 57 years of service with FAP," these helicopters "are now being removed to make way for a new generation, the 'Koala' ",
which" have already started to operate ", he stressed.
Asked if this Tuesday's ceremony, which symbolically marked the end of the ALIII's service -
since it is the last flight only on Wednesday -
did he not deserve the presence of the military who, for decades, piloted or worked on these helicopters,
the government official alluded to the covid-19 pandemic.
"They are physically absent, but they are in our thinking," said João Gomes Cravinho,
justifying that the pandemic requires "changes" to what "are the usual ceremonies".
The farewell was made "with a mixed feeling of longing,
but also of thanks and great satisfaction" for the "significant investment of Portugal" in these helicopters,
but which paid off:
"When investments are well made, the return is very great and that return was infinitely higher than what was the investment ".
Koalas device can be reinforced with two more devices
The Defense Minister also revealed that the Air Force has already received four of the five new AW119MK II helicopters - "Koala"
and that Portugal is "thinking" to buy "two more" to integrate into the firefighting device.
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