Due to the lack of money in the budget for this year, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) has abandoned the repair of a heavily damaged Bell helicopter belonging to the Air Force of Montenegro.
In the best case, the aircraft will be repaired and returned to operational use only next year.
"The Bell 412 EP helicopter (registration number XHB 307), which had an accident on January 17, 2024, was preserved and placed in a hangar at the airport 'Knjaz Danilo'. As it is a failure that could not be foreseen, the budget for 2024 did not provide funds for this purpose", the department headed by Minister Dragan Krapović told "Vijesta", answering the question whether the repair of this aircraft has been completed so far. , one of only three Bell 412 type multipurpose medium helicopters available to the Air Force.
However, a few months ago, the Ministry of Defense claimed quite differently - that they had the money to repair this helicopter and that it would be returned to operational use relatively quickly.
"MO has collected offers from several companies that are certified to carry out the diagnostic procedure of potential system failure. As we told you earlier, the assumption is that the system has malfunctioned. Whether this is so, the diagnostic findings will show soon. If it is confirmed that it is a malfunction, the Ministry of Defense has financial resources for such an investment and bringing the helicopter into operational use," the Ministry of Defense told "Vijesta" in mid-August. At that time, the department could not answer precisely how much damage there was to the helicopter, but they asserted that "they have the financial resources for such an investment and bringing the helicopter into operational use."
Now, four months later, the Ministry of Defense claims that "in accordance with the law, the market research and the submission of bids for its return to operational status are in the final phase."
"The process is ongoing, and the return of this aircraft to its correct condition and its return and operational use is expected in 2025," the Ministry points out.
On January 17, the aircraft suffered severe damage to a part of the propulsion and transmission assembly, during the implementation of an extraordinary helicopter inspection procedure on the ground, which is expressly prohibited by the manufacturer of the aircraft, Bell Helicopters from the USA.
According to several well-informed "Vijesti" sources, the inspection was carried out by allegedly untrained helicopter crews. In that incident, the aircraft suffered damage that, according to "Vijesti" sources, ranges from 300.000 to even one million euros.
The MoD never officially confirmed these figures.
In August, the Ministry of Defense announced to "Vijesta" that the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Army, Brigadier General Zoran Lazarevic and the Commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Bojan Popadic, "did not establish the existence of grounds for taking disciplinary measures or some other responsibility" in connection with the helicopter crash.
The acquisition of this second-hand aircraft in 2018 cost taxpayers almost ten million euros.
The Ministry of Defense claimed that, if there really was a malfunction in the system, it did not happen due to negligence or irresponsible behavior.
The department headed by Minister Krapović previously told "Vijesta" that "the General Staff and the Air Force undertook all measures and activities in accordance with the Law and prescribed procedures."
"The commissions for investigating the circumstances and causes of the event conducted the procedure in the prescribed manner, and you have already received answers to this regarding your earlier interests. There are no new details in this regard," the MoD said.
"Vijesti" previously received official information from the Ministry of Defense that "the commission conducted the procedure and concluded in the report that the helicopter in question had exceeded the limit of the number of revolutions of the maximum values for the parameter N2 (free turbine) and NR (number of revolutions of the supporting rotor)".
However, neither then, nor later, was it ever announced who was to blame for the fact that, during the examination on the ground, according to a prohibited procedure, the helicopter was brought into a mode where one of its two engines and the transmission that transmits power to the propeller, "overturned", i.e. go outside the maximum permissible load range.
"Vijesti" sources from VCG claimed that everything happened due to the lack of training of the crew, which provoked a significant exceedance of the permitted maximum number of revolutions of the helicopter's engine and rotor.
"The overrun went to 112% (permitted 100%), lasting between 7-12 seconds. This excess is significant in the illegal zone, where assembly damage is possible. The technical instructions provide for several actions after such an incident in order to check the condition of the engine components, transmission, main rotor head, tail rotor and others in order to bring the helicopter into proper condition. It is an extremely long and complex process that, in addition to time, requires other activities and significant financial resources that cannot be accurately predicted at the moment", said the interviewee of "Vijesti" immediately after the accident, specifying that it is necessary to remove the engines of the damaged helicopter and send them to an authorized service center where it will be disassembled "in order to inspect virtually all components for defects".
It is also necessary to disassemble the complete transmission system and the main rotor head and disassemble the tail rotor system.
"All the listed components are disassembled in order to inspect the condition and inspect the damage. Only after that, it is possible to give a more accurate assessment of the damage to the components, which must all be replaced as well as the method of repair. Then the financial aspect of bringing the helicopter to its previous, correct state will be clearer," he explained at the time, adding that it can be safely claimed that "the resulting damage will certainly not be less than 300.000 euros, and estimates are that it is possible to exceed a million euros".
This assessment, he said, is based on the fact that the engines must be sent to an authorized service center - probably at the Pratt & Whitney engine manufacturer itself in Canada.
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