Military CASA planes back in air

Prague, Feb 2 (CTK) - Chief of Staff Vlastimil Picek yesterday allowed the control flights of the Spanish-made transport CASA aircraft that had been grounded since last October over its defects, spokeswoman Jana Ruzickova has told journalists.

The manufacturer then worked on the elimination of the defects.

According to media and experts, the acquisition of the planes was suspicious and the contract was probably overpriced.

The contract on the planes' purchase for 132 million euros in total, an equivalent of 3.5 billion crowns, was signed in 2009, one day before then deputy defence minister Martin Bartak became defence minister.

The European Commission said the Czech Republic did not observe the EU rules of placing public orders because it opted for the deal without a tender.

The defects of the aircraft also appeared in the past. Last year, the aircraft was grounded three times.

The Defence Ministry said earlier if the aircraft were not in perfect condition by the end of May, it would cancel the contract.

A navigation display and some board devices stopped working during the landing manoeuvre of one of the CASAs last autumn. Then a defect of the right engine occurred. After the incident, all the four CASA used by the Czech military were grounded and the cause of the problems was investigated.

"Based on the results of a technical check of the aircraft, the chief of staff has decided to execute control flights that will take place with all the planes in the days to come in order to check the stability of their navigation systems," Ruzickova said.

"If the control flights take place without defects, the aircraft will be set into full operation," she added.

($1=19.090 crowns)