Ecuador Army Acquires M28 STOL Aircraft from Sikorsky-PZL

Sikorsky/PZL Mielec has signed an agreement with the Ecuador Army for an M28 short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft.

The twin turboprop aircraft is scheduled for delivery later this year from Sikorsky’s PZL Mielec manufacturing facility in Poland. The 7,500 kg (16,500 lbs.) M28 airplane can be outfitted with 19 passenger seats, carry up to 2,300 kg (5,000 lbs.) of cargo, and conduct parachuting missions from the cabin’s rear clamshell doors, PZL said in a statement Tuesday. 

After a pilot and mechanic training course in Poland, a PZL crew will fly the aircraft across the North Atlantic Ocean to Shell Mera, Ecuador, via Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the United States and Central America. 

Ecuador is the first Latin American country to acquire an M28 aircraft following a two-month demonstration tour of seven Caribbean and Latin America countries in 2017.

Sikorsky has received requests for proposals from commercial operators and militaries in Latin America as a result of the tour. A majority of the proposals seek to carry passengers and/or cargo into unprepared landing strips at sea level and high altitude locations.