After 4 Crashes, Ecuador Grounds Fleet of Indian Dhruv Choppers, Cancels Contract

[mandrom]

the problem lies ith the ecuadorians. i think poor maintenance and pilot errors are the major cause. dhruvs have good service record with Indian armed forces.

The Indian armed forces can put a stick in HAL's babus rears. Can Ecuador govt do the same ? No.

 

[elitepilot09]

I have never seen a withdrawal of a contract after it has been signed. This is a humiliating national embarrassment.

 

[somebozo]

The alternate theory that Ecuadorian staff is incompetent with proper maintenance and running of the chopper?

 

[Tuchha]

Global defense market is not a cakewalk, you need all sort of tools to deal with it. Its like getting into "Property Dealing" business in India, you culminate political muscle and money power together to fix n snatch deals.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

indian engineering at its best.

 

[Joe Shearer]

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.

According to AP reports, the Ecuadorian Defence Minister has announced that two of the helicopters crashed because of mechanical problems, and that getting spare components for the choppers from India had proven to be problematic.

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.

HAL, which had provided ground support for these choppers in Ecuador, have said that the two choppers that crashed allegedly because of mechanical defects went down after the ground support period with Ecuador had ended.

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.

The Ecuadorian decision to scrap its contract with HAL will come as a major blow to the company looking to seek foreign customers for the Dhruv choppers which have, by and large, been accepted favourably by the Indian Armed forces which have flown them for more than 1,50,000 hours since they were inducted.



After 4 Crashes, Ecuador Grounds Fleet of Indian Dhruv Choppers, Cancels Contract

Saw this coming from a very long time. Some relationships are to be nurtured. Babus of HAL have a pathetic attitude towards a lot of things and this is the norm. I have had first hand experience of lethargy and chalta hai attitude of HAL. Hope some lessons are learnt.

Don't know how you got first hand experience of lethargy and chalta hai attitude of HAL, but I'd like to agree in spades redoubled. As a private-sector origin CEO of an HAL joint venture, I faced the impossibly childish and dysfunctional behaviour of HAL; it was not a happy experience.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ecuadorian Air Force had bought seven Dhruv helicopters from state-run HAL in 2009 under a deal estimated to cost about USD 45 million.

"Our team is already there to investigate what has happened. The incident happened during training," HAL Chairman R K Tyagi told PTI referring to the January 13 accident. Official sources said another General Manager (Repairs and Maintenance), has now being sent to the northwestern South American country following the second accident.



At least four of the Dhruv helicopters delivered between 2009 and 2012 have crashed. One was assigned to transport President Rafael Correa, though he wasn't in the aircraft at the time.

Defense Minister Fernando Cordero announced the action during a news conference Wednesday. He said two of the crashes were caused by mechanical failures. The three remaining Dhruv have been grounded.




HAL Supplied 7 Dhruv to Ecuadorian Air Force during 2009-2012. Dhruv has also been supplied to Nepal Army & Mauritius Police.

More than 100 Dhruvs are operating with Indian Defence Forces. HAL is executing an order for 159 Dhruv helicopters from Indian Army & IAF which is under supply.

Dhruv is also being operated by Civil customers such as ONGC, GSI, Government of Jharkhand and para military force (BSF).

 

[Imran Khan]

its ok every deal has such hip hops . they are right and india is new in military industry work hard and make more better product .

 

[Hindustani78]

Don't know how you got first hand experience of lethargy and chalta hai attitude of HAL, but I'd like to agree in spades redoubled. As a private-sector origin CEO of an HAL joint venture, I faced the impossibly childish and dysfunctional behaviour of HAL; it was not a happy experience.

Here its not chalta hai attitude .

Last Updated: Saturday, February 22, 2014 - 00:51
One was assigned to transport President Rafael Correa, though he wasn't in the aircraft at the time.

The Indian-made Dhruv helicopter was on a flight between Guayaquil and Quito when it crashed in the region of Chimborazo, a military spokesman said.

Correa disclosed the crash during an election rally in Quito, asking for a moment of silence for the victims.

He emphasized that at no point was he supposed to be on the flight.

"Let`s hope this doesn`t lead to speculation," he said. "It has to be investigated. I was not traveling on the helicopter, I didn`t have the least plans to."

Three crew members were killed, including a presidential pilot. The helicopter`s pilot survived.

 

[JOEY TRIBIANI]

You dont fail coz you cant copy and cant make your own

Still got a costumers for our product (JF-17) while your own airforce reject ur home assembled fighter .

 

[Ray_of_Hope]

RIP Dhruv

 

[Hindustani78]

Dhruv’ ALH is widely used the Indian Armed Forces and has been sold to various countries including Peru, Burma, Turkey, Maldives, Mauritius and Nepal. The military versions in production are for transport, utility, reconnaissance and MedEvac roles and civilian variant of the Dhruv for transport, rescue, policing, offshore operations and air-ambulance role. However, the growing negativity surrounding the ‘Dhruv’ ALH’s credibility, is likely to upset India’s plan to export its chopper to South American nations such as Chile and Brazil besides other countries.

 

[Hindustani78]

French experts were going to investigate that crash

even in 2007 , Ecuador's president had ordered an investigation that killed the country's first female defense minister, her daughter, and five military officers.

Helicopter crash that killed Ecuador's defence minister was caused by human error and violations in air safety procedures, according to a report by a commission of international experts.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa called in Chilean and French aviation experts investigated the crash after Larriva's Socialist Party raised questions about whether the crash was an accident.

 

[Ankit Kumar 001]

If the quality of product was the reason of crash, we would have lost around 40- 50 dhruvs ourselves.But they are flying from our ships to our mountains safely.

Certainly Equadroians are at fault.But in international market we should make sure they are able to fly it.

Nevertheless, I heard that HAL was working to get European certification for Dhruv. What us the progress on it.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ecuador do have some serious internal issues in 2007 French Helicopter was crashed in which the Defence Minister was killed.