CHENNAI: The state government has decided to sell its Bell 412EP helicopter purchased in 2006 during J Jayalalithaa’s stint as chief minister. The 11-seater twin engine chopper is currently grounded and is parked in a hangar at Chennai Airport.
The state government recently nominated State Trading Corporation of India Limited (STC), a government of India enterprise, to dispose off the chopper. STC has floated a global tender to select an appraiser to fix the reserve price/floor price of the chopper recently. “It was imported by the corporation, and hence the state has approached us for disposal,” a senior STC official said.
The state government’s public department, which takes care of maintenance and operation of the helicopter, however, is tight-lipped about the development. “The government has decided to dispose the chopper, which has become old, after the death of the former chief minister,” a state government official said.
Airport sources said the state government had informed Airports Authority of India (AAI) about its plans to sell the helicopter.
STC maintained the helicopter had been used by the state government till March 2018. To arrive at a fair market value for the chopper along with spare parts, bidders have been invited from appraisers certified by the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading, National Aircraft Appraiser Association, American Society of Appraisers, Institute of Valuers – New Delhi for valuing the chopper.
The appraiser will also evaluate 1,050 spare parts.
While choppers owned by other state governments are included in the list of nonscheduled operators updated in July, 2018 by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the TN chopper is not included in the list.
An AAI official said, “It’s been a long time since it was flown. They used to do ground run (switch on the engines and run the rotors) occasionally to keep it in shape”. The chopper should at least clock 100hours per month. He also said the state government was taking steps to make the chopper airworthy.