Matthijs had to look twice when he saw the big fire at the Loonse and Drunense Duinen from his job plane. “I flew through the entire region and the smoke could be seen everywhere.”
Matthijs Olislagers is flying instructor in Eindhoven. He flew from there, together with a student, his regular tour near the dunes. “It was immediately clear to me that it was about forest fire, because there was a lot of smoke development,” Matthijs says when he stands with both feet on the ground again. “The smoke could really be seen from Drunen to the Land van Maas and Waal.”
As an experienced pilot and instructor, Matthijs flies a lot. That he spot a fire from the air is not that special. “But this one was very big,” he says. “As a pilot you sometimes report burning at the traffic control, which she then passes on to the fire brigade or police, because we have a good view from the air.” With this fire he knew: I don’t have to report this: “This was so huge, I was sure that this was not unnoticed,” laughs Matthijs. He did make videos from the air and sent them to Omroep Brabant.
By the way, the student was not brought by the fire. “The whole sky became a bit all the way, but we were still far enough of the fire that the view was good,” explains Matthijs.
They flew around the plumes of smoke with a large bow: “There may be ash particles and they are bad for the engine. Moreover, maybe a police helicopter will fly. We don’t want to be a burden,” said the instructor. According to the pilot, large aviation traffic should not be bothered by the smoke: “They fly a lot higher.”