National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇賢) on Thursday denied a media report that Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) had vetoed a project to upgrade the nation's UH-1H helicopters.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported on Thursday that a proposal submitted by the NASC to upgrade its 20 UH-1H helicopters — all of which are between 20 and 30 years old — was turned down by the minister last September.
The proposed project aimed to strengthen the body of the choppers, as well as upgrade their rotors and engines, the newspaper said, adding that each upgrade would have taken 90 days and cost between US$3 million and US$3.5 million — about a quarter of the cost of purchasing a new helicopter.
The report attributed Liao's rejection of the project as a possible cause of the crash of the UH-1H helicopter that killed three NASC pilots on a mission to rescue flood survivors trapped in remote mountain villages in Pingtung County earlier this week.
Chen rejected the report, saying: “What Minister Liao vetoed was a previous project that received no bids after three tenders were issued.”
“The minister thought there must be a problem with the project and called for an overall review to draft a new plan,” Chen said.
Chen added that the minister had approved a new plan on June 30 to upgrade old aircraft while also seeking to purchase new ones.
“The UH-1H is still considered one of the best helicopters in the world today, and there are more than 1,800 UH-1Hs still in service, including 80 in the army and the NASC,” Chen said.
“All UH-1Hs temporarily put out of service because of the accident were fully inspected and returned to work on rescue missions [on Thursday],” Chen said.
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