Equipped with a crane, the vessel belongs to a company and will operate on the river in coordination with the resources deployed for the operations.
In that area of the Douro River, in Samodães, Lamego municipality, Viseu district, there are several boats from different forces, such as the Navy, Civil Protection, and firefighters.
During the 8:30 AM briefing, the regional commander of the Northern Maritime Police, Rui Silva Lampreia, explained that diving and search operations for the still missing GNR (National Republican Guard) officer began at 7:00 AM, and the removal of the crashed aircraft should start after 10:00 AM.
The removal of the aircraft from the river will allow verification of whether the missing 29-year-old officer might be trapped in the helicopter’s fuselage, explained Rui Silva Lampreia, who is also the field operations commander.
For this operation, according to the commander, a company was called that will work in coordination with the available resources and has a platform with cranes “capable of performing this removal.”
On the ground this morning, underwater searches are being conducted with eight diving teams from various entities, as well as land searches with personnel on foot along the river banks, and three drones are performing aerial work.
The forest firefighting helicopter crashed into the Douro River on Friday, near the town of Samodães, Lamego, and was carrying a pilot and a team of five military personnel from the Emergency Protection and Rescue Unit (UEPC) who were returning from a fire in the municipality of Baião.
So far, the bodies of four GNR officers have been located, with one other member still missing.
The officers are between 29 and 45 years old, three are from Lamego, one from Moimenta da Beira, and another from Castro Daire, in the Viseu district.
The aircraft pilot was rescued alive with only minor injuries.
The causes of the accident are still unknown.
The Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents has a team on the ground investigating the accident.
