The National Police presented this Wednesday the aerial fleet that it will use to extinguish fires and respond to emergencies in the country, initially composed of eight aircraft, some of which were used in the fumigation of illicit crops.
“This pioneering program in Latin America, on par with the best in the world, will be made up entirely of a fleet of 15 aircraft, eight that will come into operation this afternoon, four more that will do so next month and three additional ones in June. “explained the director of the Colombian Police, General William Salamanca.
The initial fleet includes two Air Tractor AT-802 aircraft, called ‘hummingbirds’, and two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, nicknamed ‘macaws’, the information added.
The ‘hummingbird’ planes were previously used to spray illicit crops with the herbicide glyphosate and were donated by the United States to Colombia in 2015.
The ‘hummingbirds’ have the capacity to discharge 800 gallons of water in an area of 150 meters, while the Black Hawks have been adapted “with ‘bambi bucket’ type equipment with the capacity to discharge up to 600 gallons of water,” added Salamanca in the presentation.