China-made large amphibious aircraft completes first water takeoff

WUHAN, Oct 20 -- China's independently-developed large amphibious aircraft AG600 completed its first water takeoff and landing in the city of Jingmen in the central province of Hubei on Saturday morning.

The AG600, codenamed Kunlong, is designed to be the world's largest amphibious aircraft. It completed its maiden flight in December 2017.

At around 8:51 a.m., the plane took off from the surface of a reservoir near Zhanghe Airport of Jingmen under the command of captain Zhao Sheng and his crew.

It landed smoothly and steadily on water after a 14-minute flight. The AG600, a large-scale special-purpose civil aircraft designed to assist with forest firefighting and water rescues, is the third member of China's "large aircraft family" following the large freighter Y-20 and large passenger aircraft C919. (Xinhua)