Aerospace Diary

21 August 2013 - 10:14 by  Neelam Mathews  in New Delhi Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources have criticised the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG ), claiming the auditor’s report into the controversial  AW101 VVIP helicopter  deal failed to comprehend basic facts. The  CAG  presented its  report  to the Indian Parliament on August 13, highlighting the government’s failure to follow procedures in awarding the contract to AgustaWestland for 12 AW101s in 2010. The deal is also under scrutiny in Italian courts due to alleged bribes paid to officials in India. The bid for VVIP helicopters was first released in 2002 for the Indian Air Force (IAF) to replace its aging Mi-8 helicopters. After the  EC225  emerged as the only candidate, the contract was rebid in 2006. The  CAG  report claimed the subsequent process saw laxity in decision making and a number of discrepancies. ‘From the framin...

Neelam Mathews May 3, 2011 Time posted: 6:35pm IST Following the crash of a Pawan Hans Mi-172 helicopter in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on April 19, an expert committee formed to investigate the crash, met today at the ministry of civil aviation. The committee, which will complete its inquiry and submit a report in three months, is chaired by former Air Marshal P.P. Rajkumar. The members include Air Commodore Ravi  Krishan, a pilot and Wing Commander Rabinder Singh, an engineer- both now retired from the Border Security Force. M.J. Singh, deputy director of air safety at Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has been appointed as secretary to the committee. Dr Vipin Sharma, medical specialist from DGCA will be responsible for evaluating autoposy findings. Meanwhile, there is no news as yet of the missing AS350 B-3 helicopter of the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister. Aerospace Diary had recently questioned the possibility of the electronic locator transmitter (ELT) not fu...