HAL Team For Ecuador To Discuss Dhruv Helicopter Crashes

Indian state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) officials will be visiting Ecuador to resolve issues concerning termination of Dhruv helicopters’ contractual agreement.

“HAL is getting ready to send a high-level team to Ecuador to resolve the issue and address the concerns of the Latin American customer after many meetings through diplomatic channels,” Financial Express quoted an unnamed source as saying Tuesday.

Ecuador unilaterally ended its contractual agreement last month after four of its seven choppers crashed, the last one crashed in January this year.

HAL supplied seven Dhruvs between 2009 and 2012.

Two of the helicopters that crashed are attributed to mechanical problems and getting components for the choppers from India has proved to be problematic.

The other two crashes are linked to pilot errors. One of these helicopters was assigned to transport the Ecuadorian President. He was not on board when the helicopter crashed.

While there have been hectic discussions through the diplomatic channels from the time the government of that country decided to cancel the contract with HAL, the possibility of reviving the chopper deal with that country now seems remote, the news daily reported.