The maiden flight of the AC313, China's first independently developed civilian helicopter, is scheduled for mid-March in the eastern province of Jiangxi, a company official said on March 6.

Sun Cong, Deputy Chief Engineer of Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC), told Xinhua that the AC313, designed and manufactured by AVIC, has a maximum takeoff weight of 13.8 tons and can carry 27 passengers or 15 wounded personnel.

The new helicopter was designed for a variety of uses, including search and rescue, fighting forest fires, and even assisting in fighting fires in cities, Sun said