THIS is the harrowing moment a firefighting helicopter plunged straight into an inferno it was dousing in South Africa.
Footage shows the chopper flying up a mountain at Hout Bay, near Cape Town, when it clipped a cliff with its main rotor before losing control and dropping 100 feet in the very flames it was battling.
No longer able to hover properly, the aircraft is seen rolling over and then turning upside down.
The incident happened – on the second day of a massive wildfire ravaging the seaside suburb – as the pilot had just refilled the 1,000 litre “Bambi” water bucket from the harbour below.
All hope would have been lost for the life of the pilot, if it had not been for his colleagues from the Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS) who had climbed up the mountain to fight the blaze, and rushed to his aid.
Miraculously, he managed to get out of the cockpit and escape the raging flames by hiding in a safe spot right on the cliff edge.
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“The chopper was upside down in the flames and somehow had jammed itself in between the mountain and a rocky crag so it was stuck fast,” said a VWS source.
“If the helicopter had carried on rolling then it was going 3,280 feet down to the pipe track below and without a doubt the pilot would have had no chance.
“He still had to get himself out of the cockpit and through the flames and find a safe spot right on the cliff edge until rescuers could get to him and assess his injuries.
“He has some nasty cuts and bruises but was able to get off the mountain himself to a waiting ambulance and was taken to A&E at hospital for a full check up.
“He acknowledged how lucky he had been as he saw where his helicopter ended up and where it would have fallen if a rather lucky rocky outcrop had not saved him.
“He was also fortunate the chopper’s fuel tanks did not rupture on impact into the flames although about an hour later the helicopter did explode in a big old fireball.”
Youngsters are believed to have deliberately started the fire, which quickly spread as strong winds blew it towards historic wine farms in Constantia.
Under threat was the prestigious £5million 2020 Love Island villa nestled beside Eagle’s Nest Vineyard along with Cape Town’s oldest vineyard.
Three helicopters were deployed, constantly waterbombing the out-of-control flames.
Pilots had been working non-stop for two days, making urgent journeys to the harbour to collect water every five to six minutes.
Hout Bay local Hilary Jamieson said that when the chopper smashed into the mountain, everyone “feared the worst.”
“Fortunately the pilot made it,” she said. “Their job is incredibly tough and the concentration needed to pick up the water and deliver it is just immense.
“The men and women up there do a great job keeping us all safe from these constant wildfires.”
