China's peacekeeping choppers make maiden flights

Two aircraft from China's first peacekeeping helicopter unit completed their maiden flights in the Darfur area in western Sudan on November 4, reports the Liberation Army Daily.

The two medium sized multi-purposed Mi-171 choppers took off from El Fasher Airport at around 10 am local time, each heading to two task areas for their training flight.

After one-and-a-half hours, the two helicopters successfully completed their missions and returned to the airport. They will now go on to carry out operational flights.

While the performances of the two copters met the standards set by the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur's (UNAMID), the Chinese pilots were singled out for praise by the UNAMID and the Sudanese civil aviation authorities.

"Today's flights are an historic breakthrough, opening up a new journey of peacekeeping for all the officers in the unit," said Chen Dehui, political commissar of the helicopter unit.

Consisting of 140 peacekeepers, the helicopter team was deployed for UN missions in Sudan's Darfur region in August this year.

Equipped with four multi-purposed Mi-171 helicopters, the peacekeepers will carry out missions including air patrols, battle reconnaissance, transport of peacekeeping forces, evacuation of rescued personnel and delivering supplies by air.