‘Merc-style’ copter to fly in luxury
European aviation major Eurocopter on Tuesday unveiled its “EC-145 Mercedes Benz-style helicopter” at Geneva which it said would “take VIP travel to a whole different level”. Functionaries representing Eurocopter told this newspaper the copter would be equivalent to a “flying Mercedes Benz”. They added that another model of the EC-
145 helicopter (not the one unveiled on Tuesday) already have the Haryana government and an Indian industrial group as customers which had purchased one copter apiece.
In a statement, Eurocopter said, “Conceived as a styling project led by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Como, Italy, the luxurious interior of the EC145 Mercedes-Benz Style is inspired by the automaker’s range of high-end vehicles. It features deluxe materials, elegant woods, easily transformable interior and ambient cabin lighting, along with multi-function boxes.”
Functionaries representing Eurocopter expressed confidence that the new EC-145 Mercedes Benz model would find customers once again both from governments and the private sector in India but said details of interest expressed or orders placed would only be available in the days to come.
Helicopters is the preferred mode of aerial transport for VIPs in India, especially during election campaigns when VIPs have to reach remote places for electioneering.
However, following the recent death of the then Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu in a copter crash in Arunachal, the government is keen on ensuring more safety devices in choppers used by VIPs and a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) is currently examining the issue. Incidentally, the ill-fated copter — that crashed, killing the then Arunachal chief minister and others on board — was also a Eurocopter copter.
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