A water-bombing helicopter ditched into a dam on the far South Coast at around 4:00 pm this afternoon (9 January).

The aircraft, which was contracted to the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and tasked to the Clyde Mountain fire, was ditched into the Ben Boyd Reservoir in the Ben Boyd National Park at Edrom, in the Bega Valley Shire.

The pilot was able to free himself and is safe onshore while the aircraft remains submerged, the RFS said.

Ambulances are responding at the scene.