It is the key to extinguishing forest fires... A flood of criticism about the ‘introduction, maintenance and repair’ problems of large helicopters

“We signed a contract to supply a new model, but the company said it was not possible, so we replaced it with a used one and extended the delivery date.”

“The number of breakdowns has increased six-fold in one year, and there have been 14 cases of failure to dispatch… 7 helicopters stopped.”

(Daejeon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jun-ho = At the National Assembly audit of the Forest Service held at the National Assembly on the 20th, lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties continued to point out and criticize the problems that emerged during the introduction as well as the maintenance and repair process in relation to large helicopters, which are a key force in extinguishing forest fires.

Representative Yoon Jun-byeong of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out problems such as changes in contract conditions and extension of certification and delivery schedules in the process of introducing the first large forest fire extinguishing helicopter.

The supply of new airframes and major parts was a condition reflected in the evaluation of the proposal, but the supply conditions were later changed to remanufactured airframes, disassembled and overhauled engines and rotor heads, and repaired and restored blades, landing gear, and hydraulic servos.

In addition, through a contract change in October last year, the delivery deadline was extended by about 18 months from December 28 of the same year to June 29 of next year.

Representative Yoon criticized that the problem was that even after extending the delivery date and changing the model, uncertainty in certification was not resolved.

Rep. Yoon said, “If certification completion is not a prerequisite, there is a high possibility that we will not be able to meet the extended delivery deadline,” adding, “The situation requires thorough verification of the remaining certification procedures and the actual possibility of completion.”

Rep. Joo Cheol-hyun of the same party also pointed out, "We signed a contract to supply a new model, but the American manufacturer suddenly said no, so if they say something else now, it would be a decisive non-performance of the contract." He added, "The introduction is sluggish, and there are helicopters that will not be able to operate if a large forest fire breaks out from this fall to next year. If the current situation continues, our country's forest fire extinguishing capabilities will decline rapidly."

In response, Director Park Eun-sik of the Korea Forest Service explained, "At the time, I was considering terminating or changing the contract, but considering securing helicopters and various other factors, I inevitably chose to change the contract. The reason we are unable to deliver is that we need to obtain airworthiness certification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, but we have not yet received airworthiness certification."

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Seon-kyo said, “The number of helicopter defects in 2024 increased from 2 to 10 last year, and 15 cases occurred as of September this year,” and criticized, “In February of this year, a KA 32 helicopter belonging to Hamyang returned due to a defect in the airframe while traveling to extinguish a forest fire, and there was even a case where a helicopter belonging to Yeongam had its mission canceled due to a water tank defect.”

He then said, “There are 7 helicopters that are parked,” and asked, “Are we just using the war between Russia and Ukraine as an excuse to leave these 7 helicopters alone?”

Commissioner Park responded, "The supply of parts is not smooth due to the war, but we are making the most of the parts available now. Since there are no domestically produced large helicopters, we are inevitably looking for ways to introduce foreign products. We are planning to gradually replace or further strengthen them with domestically developed Surion helicopters."

People Power Party lawmaker Lee Yang-soo pointed out, "The number of breakdowns in the Forest Service's forest fire extinguishing helicopters has increased six-fold in just one year. As of last August, 45 breakdowns occurred, and there were 14 cases in which helicopters could not be dispatched due to breakdowns or maintenance even when forest fires broke out."

Rep. Lee emphasized, "Forest fire extinguishing helicopters are a key force that prevents the spread of large-scale forest fires, but breakdowns are rapidly increasing and cases of failure to dispatch to actual forest fire sites are increasing." He added, "The government must accelerate the replacement schedule for old helicopters and diversify the parts supply chain to prevent gaps in forest fire response."