CONAF, the Chilean Forestry Department, took delivery of its first PZL Sokol helicopter back last Autumn, as reported here on HeliHub.com – but has been grounded since then due to lack of qualified pilots.  The organisation has suffered a significant amount of local criticism due to bad planning of the whole operation.

Aviation director Manuel Ayuso has backed up the project by concentrating on the fact that Sokols are widely used in Spain to combat forest fires.  Equipment includes the ability to carry u pto 2,000 liters of water.