Fighting wildfires is tricky business. Wind patterns, terrain, and limited resources often make it a tremendously difficult task. That’s precisely why fire departments and emergency services around the world use aircraft to fight these wild blazes. Like any other aircraft, though firefighting airplanes and helicopters are vulnerable to crashes, like this case of a bucket-wielding helicopter crashing into a French lake. 

A French helicopter attempted to fill its firefighting bucket a bit too abruptly, leading to a harrowing crash on video

A wild video out of Rosporden, France, shows a Morane 29 helicopter approaching the town’s namesake lake with a firefighting bucket. The helicopter and its crew had already filled and dispensed the huge water bucket 27 times in an attempt to quell a nearby 25-acre fire in Beuzec-Cap-Sizun, 37 miles away. 

That’s, unfortunately, when disaster struck. The video shows the Morane helicopter dipping the bucket, often referred to as a “Bambi Bucket,” in too quickly. The momentum carried the helicopter downward, causing the skids and tail rotor to contact the water’s surface.

A moment later, the darkly-colored helo started spinning wildly. The helicopter spun out of control until it crashed into the water, bucket and all.

Mercifully, no one aboard the helicopter died in the low-altitude crash. As wild as it sounds, the pilot and firefighter on board reportedly swam to shore, relatively unscathed by the crash, per TMZ. The firefighting helicopter, however, was no more. 

Now, crashes like this happen from time to time. Case in point, a Canadian “Super Scooper” firefighting aircraft struck an errant drone earlier this year while fighting the Palisades fire, causing damage to the large airplane.

Worse yet, a similar firefighting airplane crashed on a live television broadcast in Greece in 2023. Tragically, however, the crew perished in that instance. 

Check out the video of the shocking helicopter crash below.