One of the main missions in which the helicopter was used was after the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, which occurred between April 25 and 26, 1986. At the time, the country belonged to the Soviet Union, and these aircraft were used to lessen the impact of the tragedy.
Around 30 Mi-26s were used to make measurements of the radiation emitted at the accident site, in addition to dropping materials such as sand, boron and lead to cover the core of reactor number 4, which was destroyed in the explosion. Its structure was adapted to protect crews, who could be exposed to fatal levels of radiation.
The UN (United Nations) itself has already used the helicopter in one of its humanitarian missions. The United Nations Provisional Authority in Cambodia operated the Mi-26 between 1992 and 1993 after the end of the Civil War in Cambodia in actions to support the transition of power in the Asian country.
There’s even bigger…
The Mi-26 is the largest series-produced helicopter to date. Some prototypes larger than this were built, but they were nothing more than prototypes.
Tags: largest helicopter world carries plane helped Chernobyl
