Beriev amphibian is certified by EASA

In September Beriev Be-200ChS amphibian fire-fighting aircraft received a type certificate from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The application to EASA was submitted in summer 2005. A year later the aircraft started the certification trials which were completed at the end of 2009. Be-200 became the third Russian type certified by EASA. Earlier the European type certificates were given to Tupolev Tu-204-120CE cargo airliner and Kamov Ka-32A11BC helicopter.
The fire-fighting version Be-200ChS was initially developed under the requirements of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Relief that became its first customer. This twin jet aircraft can drop up to 12 tons of water and also fits for search and rescue missions. As for now the Ministry operates 5 aircraft of this type while one more amphibian was handed over to the Emergency Ministry of Azerbaijan. The EASA certification should facilitate the sales of the aircraft in Europe where it had already been engaged in fire-fighting mission in previous years.
The Be-200s demonstrated their capabilities once again this summer as they were used to fight the massive forest fires in the European part of Russia. As the result, the country’s Ministry of Emergency Relief placed preliminary order for eight more aircraft of this type in September. Two aircraft are expected to be delivered next year, 2 – in 2012 while another 4 – in 2013.