Pakistan Returns Free Helicopters to US

WASHINGTON (March 15) -- Less than a year ago, the United States rushed four Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters to Pakistan after an urgent request from the country's senior leadership. Now those helicopters, which were offered at no cost to the government of Pakistan, are being returned to the United States after a serious crash that resulted in at least one fatality.

A Pentagon spokesperson told AOL News that Pakistan has decided not to keep the helicopters. "Pakistan has recently informed us of its intent to return the helicopters in accordance with the lease agreement," the spokesperson said.

The helicopters, which were intended to bolster Pakistan's military in the country's restive North West Frontier province, were transferred from a U.S. training unit to Pakistan's military last year under what was technically deemed a lease agreement. However, Pakistan was not asked to pay for their use. Though the lease was for a fixed 11-month term, it was expected that Pakistan would likely extend the lease given its high demand for helicopters.

But in February one of the leased helicopters crashed as a result of a problem with the tail rotor, killing at least one person on board. That crash prompted Pakistan to request that the helicopters, at least one of which was more than two decades old, be returned to the United States.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed the request to return the helicopters was received but referred further queries to the Pentagon, which referred detailed questions on the issue to the government of Pakistan. A spokesman for Pakistan's Embassy in Washington did not respond to e-mail or phone messages requesting comment on the issue.

As a key ally in the U.S. effort to battle the Taliban and al-Qaida, Pakistan has benefited from extensive military assistance that has included helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and patrol boats. Some of that equipment has been sold to Pakistan under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, and some, like the four Mi-17 helicopters, has been provided at little or no cost to the Pakistani government.

Pakistan's military has had several crashes involving Russian helicopters over the past several years, including an Mi-17 crash last year that killed more than two dozen soldiers. But supporters of the popular Russian-built transport helicopter point out that the crashes likely have little to do with the choice of aircraft.

"No piece of engineering is 100 percent fail-proof, which includes all the choppers you mentioned," a participant in the online Pakistan Defence Forum wrote after the most recent crash. "Mi-17s are the work-horse of [the Pakistan Army Aviation wing] PAA, and they love them."