A batch of four S-64 Air Crane helicopters has arrived just in time for their Australian summer rotation.
The shipment “sailed all the way from Greece” was delivered at the Port of Geelong last Saturday, and became widely known through a Facebook post by Federal Member for Corio and ALP Deputy Leader, Richard Marles.
“[…]they’ll be up in the air, supporting emergency response crews on the ground right across the country,” Mr Marles wrote while voicing critiques against the government for not investing in a national fleet.
“We can’t afford a repeat of last summers bushfires, these helicopters are important, but we should also have our own dedicated Australian aerial fire fighting fleet of aircraft.
The priority needs to be our hardworking firefighters and keeping Australians safe year round.”
It is not uncommon for firefighthing helicopters to be transferred between Greece and Australia among other Northern-Southern Hemisphere countries, in accordance with their fire season start date and duration.
During Australia’s last bushfire season, one of the Air Craine helicopters by the same operating company that was forced into emergency landing due to technical problems, had previously been deployed in Greece for the European summer.
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