Construction of the enormous FIAT factory in the Mirafiori area, on the outskirts of Turin, began in 1936. The new plant was inaugurated on May 14, 1939, in the presence of Benito Mussolini and other regime officials. During World War II, it was bombed seven times, suffering severe damage. After the war, it was rebuilt and expanded southward, sacrificing, among other things, the city's historic racecourse, where the SPA Faccioli No. 1, Italy's first airplane, had flown in 1909. As was the case everywhere, asbestos roofing was used extensively. At its peak, it employed 57,700 people and produced 5,000 cars a day, equivalent to over a million annually. Unfortunately, in recent years, manpower and production have drastically declined, and the number of cars assembled has fallen to just a few thousand annually. Helicopters have been used several times recently to remove loads of asbestos from the plant abandoned buildings, suspended from the central hook. In 2014, a Heliswiss Kamov Ka-32A12 and an Airstar's Eurocopter Ecureuil from were deployed.
In the picture: Heliswiss Kamov Ka-32A12 HB-XKE (c/n 8709/02 built 1992) removing asbestos loads at FIAT Mirafiori in Turin on December 20, 2014. Soviet-era coaxial rotor helicopter (NATO reporting name "Helix-C") ex RA-31587 and CCCP-31587. Purchased by Heliswiss in 1996 and exported to Chile in November 2021 where it was registered CC-DGC. (Aeromedia)
(Aeromedia, December 2014)
