Government aircraft lie idle for four years

Mumbai: The state government has recently empanelled two aviation companies to ferry VIPs via air, but state-owned aircraft and helicopters have been lying unused for over four years. General administration department (GAD) officials said that the repair and maintenance cost of the two flying machines is far too high and pilots are not available, which is why they have been grounded for so long.

The state government has two aircraft and two helicopters in its fleet: a Beechcraft Super King Air 350, which is in working condition; a Citation Excel plane, which is grounded; a Dauphin helicopter, which is grounded; and a functional Sirkosky helicopter. As per industry experts, the average maintenance cost of a helicopter that is grounded is Rs 3 crore per year.

On May 4, the GAD moved a government resolution (GR) stating that the government had empanelled Adonis Aviation Enterprises and Aloft Aviation Pvt Ltd to for fleet services as required for the state’s VIPs.

Stating that the aircraft and helicopter were grounded for four years, as they are due for major inspection, Capt. Sanjay Karve, director general of civil aviation, government of Maharashtra, said, “Under this, one has to strip open the entire aircraft. The cost of the inspection is about the 80 per cent of a new aircraft.”

According to him, the grounded flying machines have flown the mandatory hours. On an average, a small aircraft runs for 5,000 hours or 10 years. One of the grounded aircraft has completed 20 years and other close to 18 years, he said. Asked why the government had grounded the two aircraft and not bought new ones, he said that the thought is under consideration.

Last week in Gadchiroli, a private helicopter that was ferrying chief minister Devendra Fadnavis encountered a technical snag. It was later learnt that it was about 20 years old and was taken from the Uttar Pradesh government. Explaining why such problems occur, Capt. Karve said that, sometimes, western equipment is not meant for Indian climate.  In July 2016, the CM who was flying in a government-owned helicopter, had to return to Mumbai mid-air due to a technical fault.

When contacted, Mr Fadnavis did not comment on the issue and asked this reporter to take a comment from the director general of civil aviation.