Westland WG30 Helicopters Scam India Bought 21 Helicopters from UK Year 1984-85

Westland WG30 Helicopters Scam India Bought 21 Helicopters from UK Year 1984-85

The Westland 30 is a British medium helicopter based on the Westland Lynx manufactured by Westland Helicopters.

The Helicopters were introduced in Year 1982 and retired in Year 1991.

India bought 21 Helicopters, from the total no. of 41.
Production was limited; it was stopped after the production of 41 Helicopters.

India bought 21 Westland 30s in 1985 after Margaret Thatcher persuaded Rajiv Gandhi, then prime minister; The money came out of Britain's aid budget and was given to India

UK aid money meant for poverty alleviation in India was diverted to buy 21 helicopters from Westland Company

India agreed to purchase the WG30 helicopters in 1984-85  using £65m of aid cash authorized by Lady Thatcher to help prop up the then ailing Westland company now taken over by GKN.

The WG30 helicopters were delivered to Pawan Hans in 1987 but after two crashes, they were grounded.

Soon after their arrival in India in 1987 two crashed –
one in the north Indian state of Jammu,
and another in Nagaland killing 10 people.

They proved to be unsuited needed constant servicing and repairs.

In 1991, the helicopters were withdrawn from service on safety grounds.
Two years later, after obtaining permission from the British government under the original 1985 "sale" agreement, Pawan Hans invited global tenders for the Westland 30s.

India sold its entire fleet of Westland helicopters back to Britain for the scrap value of just £900,000; nine years after the machines were found to be technically faulty and grounded.

But no one wanted to pay the £1.9m reserve price.
Eventually AES Aerospace emerged as sole bidder.
British aviation specialist company, AES Aerospace, offered £900,000 to buy and refurbish them and sell their spare parts.
So far, it has paid £450,000, half the sale price.

The 19 remaining Westland 30s were sold but after six had been shipped to the UK, the deal failed.

An auction to sell off the helicopters did not succeed and most of the helicopters are still in a yard in Mumbai and Delhi.

The money from the sale would be given to the Indian government to use on poverty relief programmes approved by Britain's Department for International Development.

The civil aviation authority withdrawn its airworthiness certificate for the helicopters on the instructions of Westland, making them unsellable.

Because of this AES Aerospace left with half of the unsalable helicopters in Britain after spending £1m shipping them from India only to store them in containers.

It refused to ship over and pay for the rest of the helicopters,
After that, it faced a problem that Pawan Hans, their Indian owners may sue or go to court of law for breach of contract.

That time Vic Avens, managing director of the company told to guardian that
We purchased the Westland WG30 helicopters in good faith. When we got them, there was no question that they did not have an airworthiness certificate. Only when we got them to Britain did we find out that the CAA would not issue a new certificate. We feel we have been commercially manipulated."

In Year 1998 or 1997, international development secretary, Clare Short, ordered an inquiry into the helicopter deal, which she described as "outrageous".
She criticized Lady Thatcher's role in the affair, saying it showed the importance of de-linking aid from political considerations.

I do not know Pawan Hans filed the case or not.

Do you think scam happened in Year 1987 when India bought WG30 helicopters using the aid money, which was for the poor citizens of India?

Two Crashes and all Helicopters in yard or containers.

Complete waste of Money, who earned and got profits you also know and me also

What your heart says is right.

Reality views by sm –

Monday, February 18, 2013

Tags – WG30 UK India Helicopter Scam