Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces President Donald Ramotar is expected to re-commission the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Bell 412 helicopter some time next week.
This announcement was made by Army Chief of Staff, Commodore Gary Best, at the graduation ceremony of GDF’s first Basic Recruit Course for the year, held at the National Cultural Centre tarmac yesterday.
This newspaper had reported that in 2009 the authorities had planned to dispose of the Bell 412 helicopter bearing registration 8R-GFP and the aircraft which had been with the GDF for close to three decades was put on the market for sale.
However, Stabroek News was later told that the aircraft was repaired extensively by a team of engineers and it was restored to the state where it was deemed fully airworthy. During the first quarter of 2010, the aircraft was certified airworthy by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
The army had been severely criticised in the recent past, by some within the aviation sector, when the helicopter in question was placed on the market. Several persons cited poor maintenance and the purchase of inferior spares as issues which had been plaguing the maintenance of the helicopter.
The chopper is capable of traversing difficult terrain as well as flying through challenging weather conditions, but had stopped working on several occasions.
