After hovering for five minutes over Wenchuan, Li Xiang finally found a tiny landing spot for his helicopter on a hill near the quake-devastated county.

Li, deputy commander of the Aviation Regiment of the Chengdu Military Area Command, then made a soft landing and waited as his crew unloaded supplies of food and medicine.

Unable to approach the aircraft because of the wind from the blades, the grateful crowds of people knelt down, put their hands together and cried: "Thank you, soldiers! Finally, we have hope."

Although deeply moved, Li managed to hold back his tears and took off once the unloading was completed.

"At that moment, there was no time for tears," he said, recalling the first flight into Wenchuan after the earthquake.

"Every minute costs a life."
 
After the deadly quake, Li's regiment was the first to fly into the isolated counties and towns such as Wenchuan, Maoxian, Yingxiu, Beichuan.

After struggling with heavy winds, poor visibility and rough terrain, the regiment provided a lifeline from the sky for the people who they would otherwise have been unable to reach.

At 2:28 pm on May 12, a heavy tremor woke up the pilots who were taking a nap before a night drill. Feeling the magnitude of the quake, the regiment assembled immediately, cancelled the drill and readied their helicopters.

At 2:48 pm, the order to fly to the earthquake-stricken area came. And Li's regiment embarked on the largest rescue operation in its history.

As of Wedneday, the regiment had transported more than 304 tons of food, medicine and water. It had also flown 959 injured people out of the quake-stricken areas and carried 1,232 rescuers and medical staff into the region.

Since May 12, the regiment has made 815 flights into the quake-stricken area, with a total flying time of 758 hours.

"Every flight has been a near-death experience," Fan Tao, an officer from the regiment, said.

On one flight to the town of Yingxiu, Li Xiang decided to descend when the chopper was almost at its destination. But after dropping 500 m, three power lines appeared in his line of sight.

Just 400 m from the lines, Li pulled on the control lever and made a sharp left turn, narrowly missing the cables.

The pilots, mostly Sichuan natives, also risked their lives for foreigners trapped in the high mountains.

On April 15, two helicopters transported 35 foreign tourists from Wolong village to Chengdu. After being trapped in Wolong for four days, the tourists, mainly from the the US, the UK and France, could finally put an end to their panda-viewing trip.

David Atkins was one of the Americans rescued. Unable to find out the name of a crewmember who had helped him, he sent a pen to the Chinese solider with a letter that said: "I will always remember you, lieutenant!"