8-Oct-2011 Source: HeliHub.com
Estonia’s Border Guard are without helicopter support, and have had to call on neighbour Finland to help rescue a fisherman from a boat which ran aground in recent days.
The situation is a combination of circumstances. One of their three AW139s is awaiting tail rotor parts after the recent grounding, the delay of which is partly due to them not paying a reported 900,000 euros a year for faster AOG response. The second is awaiting a tail stabiliser part, no doubt caught up in the same “you are not a priority” delay.
Their third machine is in Belgium on a 1200 hour check, and has been there a number of months. “I do not mean to be too sharp, but two and a half months of the delay can be attributed to the administrative capacity of the Police and Border Guard Board headquarters,” Allan Oksmann, head of the aviation department, told a local media outlet. The agency justifies the delay with the compulsory public procurement period, during which the organization sought a suitable company to conduct the repairs.
Hmm, anyone heard of “planning ahead”?
Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com