The President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, once again stressed that the strategy for adopting Canadair aircraft to combat the fire that has been raging in Madeira for over a week “did not take long” and that there was no pressure from the Government of the Republic.
“If we can put out this fire front, the matter will be resolved,” he stressed, adding that the first drops from the Spanish Air Force planes were around 7 tons of water. “Our helicopter carries less than a thousand liters, so this took around seven helicopter trips,” he said, showing his conviction that it will be possible to put out the fire if the operation continues today and Friday.
Regarding the supply of these aircraft being carried out at Porto Santo Airport and not at Madeira Airport, the minister explained that the Spanish pilots, who command these aircraft “are not tested and qualified” to operate in the facilities located in Santa Cruz, which has “special features as everyone knows”.
“So we had to find a solution for these planes to land and refuel, and that was Porto Santo,” he said, adding that it was also necessary to adapt the pressure hoses to fill the aircraft’s tanks. “And we managed to do it in record time,” he highlighted.
Albuquerque said, on the other hand, that the time between unloading and refueling the Canadairs does not compromise the operation, as the trip between Porto Santo and Madeira is only 10 minutes.