Portugal to give their six Kamov helicopters to Ukraine

Kamov 32 at Loulé heliport in Portugal
Kamov Ka-32A on standby at Loulé heliport in Portugal. Photo by Bill Gabbert August 29, 2012.

The government of Portugal will give their six Kamov Ka-32A helicopters to Ukraine to be used in Russia’s war, said Helena Carreiras, Portugal’s Minister of National Defence.

In 2006 the government spent €348 million to buy six Kamov Ka-32A helicopters which could transport personnel and drop water, but over the last 10 years have had difficulty keeping them airworthy. In January none of the six were operational. The Helicopter Investor reported that in April the Portuguese government expelled a team of Russian mechanics working on three of the Kamovs, and shut down the hangar in Ponte de Sor where the maintenance crew was working.

The sanctions imposed on Russia have made it impossible for Portugal to maintain the helicopters. At this time none of them hold airworthiness certificates, and one is inoperable due to a crash.

Carreiras said: “At the request of Ukraine and in conjunction with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we will make available to Ukraine our fleet of Kamov helicopters which, due to the current scenario, the sanctions imposed on Russia, we are no longer able to operate.”

The condition of the helicopters is already known by the Ukrainians, and they will be “transferred as they are … as soon as possible”, said Carreiras.

Kamov helicopter shipped to Chile on IL-76

Photographer Heath Moffatt grabbed some photos of a Kamov Ka-32A11BC being loaded onto a Volga-Dnepr Ilyushin IL-76TD in Victoria, B.C. The IL-76 used internal cranes to lift and load the helicopter which was then flown to Chile. On Christmas Eve Billings Flying Service unloaded one of their CH-47D Chinooks off a ship in Chile. Both helicopters will be working on firefighting contracts.

The IL-76 can be loaded with a slip-in retardant or water delivery system that can hold over 11,000 gallons. In 2017 one of them was used to fight fires in Chile along with the 747 and a BAe-146.

IL-76 747
An IL-76 and 747 at Santiago Chile, January 30, 2017.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Dave.
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Kamov KA-32 helicopter crashes while fighting wildfire in B.C.

Kamov 32 at Loulé heliport in Portugal
Kamov KA-32 at Loulé heliport in Portugal, similar to the one that crashed in B.C. Sunday. Photo by Bill Gabbert, August 29, 2012.

A Russian-built Kamov KA-32 helicopter made a crash landing in British Columbia Sunday, August 4. Jen Norie of VIH Aviation Group confirmed that one of their helicopters was conducting water dropping operations on a wildfire near Bella Colla, British Columbia using an external bucket when the aircraft developed an engine problem. The ship made a hard landing on uneven terrain collapsing at least one landing gear, which caused the aircraft to tip over about 30 degrees. The twin overhead counter-rotating main rotors struck the ground, which of course destroyed them.

Thankfully the two pilots walked away with no injuries, so in that sense it was a “good landing”. There were no passengers on board.

Ms. Norie said the company has been operating KA-32s since the mid-1990s, accumulating over 46,000 flight hours without a major incident, until Sunday.

The registration number on the Kamov was RA-31591.