New Delhi: In a major setback for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the government of Ecuador which had bought seven Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters from India has grounded all such remaining choppers in service and has unilaterally ended a contract with the state-owned Indian company.
This decision was taken after four of the seven Indian built choppers crashed. They were supplied to Ecuador between 2009 and 2012.
At least two of those chopper crashes were linked to pilot errors. One of them was assigned to transport the President of the country when it went down, though he was not on board.
Reacting to the situation in Ecuador, senior officials at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru have told NDTV that they are yet to receive any official word on cancellation of the contract with HAL. They insist that all spare components have been provided on time, and that they had not been provided with any investigation reports indicating the mechanical failures on the helicopters.
There are more than 200 Dhruv choppers in service with the Indian Armed Forces which use them extensively. The chopper, which is capable of high altitude operations, had played a major role in the rescues in Uttarakhand during the Kedarnath floods.
This decision was taken after four of the seven Indian built choppers crashed. They were supplied to Ecuador between 2009 and 2012.
At least two of those chopper crashes were linked to pilot errors. One of them was assigned to transport the President of the country when it went down, though he was not on board.
Reacting to the situation in Ecuador, senior officials at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru have told NDTV that they are yet to receive any official word on cancellation of the contract with HAL. They insist that all spare components have been provided on time, and that they had not been provided with any investigation reports indicating the mechanical failures on the helicopters.
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There are more than 200 Dhruv choppers in service with the Indian Armed Forces which use them extensively. The chopper, which is capable of high altitude operations, had played a major role in the rescues in Uttarakhand during the Kedarnath floods.
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