When Olympic football events were in full swing in the Qinghuangdao
competition arena, a ship-borne helicopter regiment of the aviation force of the
North China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy who shoulders the sea-air security mission
over the competition arena was carrying out an unusual maneuver in emergency.
As the night fell, Senior Captain Tian Jinhe who was in first-degree combat
readiness received an order: "Take off to patrol and keep a close watch over the
sea area." 20 minutes later, he piloted a helicopter, soared into the air and
arrived at the designated sea area. After rounding off the mission, Tian Jinhe
said that they were engaged in a number of similar flight exercises like this
every day.
Given the reality that the there is absence of any reference object in the
sea making it difficult to identify targets on the sea and the helicopters are
prone to suffer from displacement when they are doing minimum altitude hovering
for search and rescue operation, which will affect the rescue operation, Tian
Jinhe, through engaging his crew in pertinent trainings, developed 10-odd
measures for safe trainings in case of sudden encounter of heavy fog or low
clouds in patrolling over sea, maritime rescue in complicated weathers and field
emergency landing because of engine failure.
According to Li Dongyou, political commissar of the ship-borne helicopter
regiment, there are 13 pilots who enjoy the rank of senior captain and deputy
division from his regiment and who are dynamically involved in the frontline
task of ensuring the Olympic security. They are all special class pilots and
have won class II merit citations. With more than 3,600 safe flight hours, they
have abundant experience of doing maritime reconnaissance and first aid, and
have fulfilled maritime first aid exercises and actual lifesaving tasks for a
number of times.
Tian Jinhe stated that after rounding off the Olympic security task, he
will stop flying and say good-bye to air and sea. However, he believed that
completing the glorious task of Olympic security is bound to leave him an
unforgettable and proud memory in his life.
By Qian Xiaohu, Li Binfu and Tan Jingchun
（Aug 19, PLA
Daily）
Editor: Dong Zhaohui
