SANTA CRUZ (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2019) Russian Il-76 strategic airlifter, which was involved in efforts to cope with wildfires in Bolivia, is returning to Russia, the aircraft pilots told Sputnik.
Russia was engaged in the operation to put out the fires in the Amazon rainforest in Bolivia alongside Argentina, France, Peru and other countries. On Thursday, Bolivian President Evo Morales thanked foreign pilots and firefighters for helping his country extinguish the fires.
The IL-76 aircraft arrived in Bolivia on September 9 with two crews that worked 12-hour shifts beginning on 06:00 a.m. by turn.
Sergei Perelygin, a pilot-in-command, told Sputnik that the aircraft had dropped a total of 2,500 tonnes of water in the course of the month.
Vladimir Shelnov, another pilot-in-command, said that the aircraft had flown up to 500 kilometers (310.7 miles) away from the airport to drop water on the rainforest.
The airlifter dropped water from the altitude of 50 meters (164 feet), which allows the water to reach the burning trees without evaporating due to heat or without making parts of burning trees fly apart due to pressure from the water, Perelygin explained.
He also emphasized the importance of observing safety measures, like staying away from fire and smoke, when extinguishing wildfires.
