picture 187156

Aerospatiale SE.316B Alouette IIIs of the FAP were used in Guinea for a wide variety of missions, including armed reconnaissance and force escort missions, for which some were fitted with a 20mm cannon. In a troop transport role, each Alouette III typically carried five soldiers and their individual equipment (four in the rear seat and one facing backwards from the front to the pilot’s left). Alternatively, the French-built helicopter could lift two stretcher patients and two medical attendants during MEDEVAC missions. This Alouette III, FAP 9338, suffered a serious accident in Guinea in July 1970: it crashed in bad weather, killing its crew and occupants, which included four members of Portugal’s parliament. (Artwork by Paulo Alegria)