In a major setback to India's efforts to market its indigenous helicopters in the overseas market, a Dhruv helicopter sold to the Ecuadorian Air Force on Wednesday crashed in Quito during a military parade, leaving two of the pilots injured.
With Aero India 2009 around the corner -- India's biggest-ever air expo, scheduled from February 11 to 15 -- HAL is readying to hand over, ahead of schedule, its first-ever export order won in a competitive contract, run last year by Ecuador for seven helicopters.
In a big relief to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, pilot error was found to have caused the crash of the India-made Advance Light Helicopter 'Dhruv' in Ecuador in October, a probe conducted in the United States and India into the mishap has revealed. The crash, during a military parade on October 28 in the South American country, injuring two pilots, was considered a major setback to India's efforts to market its indigenous helicopters overseas.
Ecuador had put the Indian choppers on "restricted" ops following a spate of accidents
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