No Record of Past Use Before Modification… Additional 200 Billion Won Helicopter Contract Signed

[Anchor]

This is a continuation of our reporting on ultra-large wildfire-fighting helicopters. We reported yesterday (September 16) that the first helicopter newly scheduled for introduction was changed to a modified, older military helicopter instead of a new model, and its delivery was delayed by a year and a half. However, the problems did not end there. It was revealed that the Korea Forest Service failed to check whether the three contracted helicopters had any accident history or if they were properly maintained while being used for military purposes in the past. Despite this, the agency signed an additional contract to purchase four more from the same company.

Reporter Jang Min-seong has the details.

[Reporter]

The Korea Forest Service has contracted a total of seven helicopters with a U.S. company.

All of them are supposed to be remanufactured U.S. military helicopters delivered for wildfire fighting, but it was confirmed that the Korea Forest Service failed to secure the accident history and maintenance records from their military service days for units 1, 2, and 3, for which the aircraft have been finalized.

Unit 1 was produced in the 1980s, while units 2 and 3 were manufactured in the 1960s.

The Korea Forest Service initially specified in its bidding proposal that there must be no accident history, such as crashes or rollovers, and that the aircraft must even be certified.

However, in February of last year, even after confirming firsthand during a business trip to the United States that there was no accident history record prior to the modification, no particular measures were taken.

When SBS began its reporting, a response was belatedly received from the U.S. Department of Defense through the company, but this also lacks specific accident history, aircraft condition, and maintenance history information from their military days.

The Korea Forest Service's stance is that it is difficult to secure records from the military days, and since repairs and other work are conducted during the modification process, there will be no problem.

[Kim Man-ju / Head of the Korea Forest Aviation Headquarters: (Military helicopters) do not come over in a condition so poor that they cannot enter the civilian sector and remain as they are (because they are remanufactured).]

However, experts point out that it is difficult to guarantee safety with only the information secured by the Korea Forest Service, making the possibility of "certification" slim.

[Choi Yong-hoon / Head of the Aviation Certification Division at the Korea Institute of Aviation Safety Technology: (To use a car as an example) if this car had a history of being flooded, you would be in a situation where you have to drive the car carrying such uncertainties, not knowing where a problem might arise.]

The delivery deadline for unit 1 has been extended by a year and a half to June of next year, while unit 2 is due by the end of November.

With less than three months remaining, the accident history and certification issues remain unresolved.

The company also stated, "It is not easy to meet the delivery deadline," adding, "We may have to pay liquidated damages and postpone the delivery."

Despite this situation, the Korea Forest Service actually expanded the scale of the project this January, contracting to additionally introduce four more ultra-large helicopters, from units 4 to 7, from the same company.

The contract amount alone is approximately 200 billion won.

The problem is that the company's ability to fulfill the contract is also in question.

Following the package contract for four units, the performance bond of approximately 10 billion won has not been paid.

Although the Korea Forest Service extended the payment deadline until July, it remains unpaid.

[Kang Doo-won / Attorney (National Contracts and Aviation Industry): (The extension of the payment deadline) can be viewed as preferential treatment. This is because in domestic transactions, the contract bond is paid immediately after concluding a contract, whether in the form of a guarantee or cash.]

The company explained that the payment is being delayed because the size of the bond has increased, denying that it constitutes preferential treatment.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by: Seol Min-hwan | Video Edited by: Lee Hong-myeong | Design: Park Taeyoung, JUNHO | Producer: Kim Do-gyun, Han Seung-ho | XR: Choi Jae-young, Park Cheon-ung | VJ: Kim Jun-ho | Data provided by: Office of Representative Yoon Jun-byeong | Video provided by: Columbia Helicopters YouTube, YouTube & SNS sources: Jarasem Younggu, Jirisan Sancheong Salai, Bicha and Nalteul, Film Master)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.