In November and December of 2008, torrential rains caused widespread damage in the State of Santa Catarina in Brazil. Lieutenant Colonel Kern of the Santa Catarina Military Police talked to Rotor Journal about the rescue operations performed by his units.

What was the extent of the damages in Santa Catarina due to the floods at the end of 2008?
Lieutenant Colonel Kern: The flooding caused damages in five large cities and many smaller towns. It was the landslides that caused the most destruction: Hundreds of people were buried alive, and thousands more lost their homes. In addition to the natural catastrophe, businesses were looted, which spread panic in urban areas. Our primary missions were to reestablish order and do whatever it took to save lives in the most affected areas.

What types of missions did you perform with your helicopters?
Lt Col. K.: We used 21 aircraft, including 15 Eurocopter helicopters (twelve AStars(1), two EC120s and an AS332 Super Puma). During the two-week period that we performed operations in Santa Catarina, we logged more than 640 flight hours with our helicopters. We performed reconnaissance missions and flew over the flooded areas, and also used the aircraft to clear away debris, evacuate areas at risk and to rescue the wounded from landslides. The roads were blocked, which meant that rescue teams could only travel by air. Without helicopters, the number of victims would therefore have been substantially higher. When the looting began, we had to use helicopters with multifunction capabilities, such as the AStars, so that we could combine a wide variety of missions. In addition to performing rescues and evacuations and transporting materials, medicine and provisions, we also had to continue our patrol duties without having to make significant changes to the helicopters’ configurations. Overall, we rescued 1,250 people from areas at risk, performing a total of 733 missions.

What advantages does the AStar offer for these types of missions?
Lt Col. K.: What is most important for us in this type of situation is its multifunction capabilities. The AStar also has a great deal of available power, excellent maneuverability and a high payload. We also really appreciated the reliability of the AStar: During the two weeks of operations, the helicopters were only unavailable for a matter of minutes!