£3 million spent on failed Nepal rescue bid
The UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has released a report revealing that £3 million was spent by the country’s government in the failed bid to use helicopters to help in relief efforts following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Image: RAF Chinook helicopter. Picture: Ian Forshaw/Crown Copyright
The UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has released a report revealing that £3 million was spent by the country’s government in the failed bid to use helicopters to help in relief efforts following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Government ministers decided to dispatch three Royal Air Force CH47 Chinooks to provide support. However, the government was unable to obtain clearance for the helicopters to land in Nepal, says the report, and they were diverted to India, where ‘they could not help in the relief effort’.
The report notes: “The total marginal cost to the Ministry of Defence for its support was £3.9 million, of which £3 million was for the military helicopters.”
When the government announced the plan to dispatch the Royal Air Force 27 Squadron Chinooks, a statement advised that they would travel to Nepal ‘once the necessary arrangements have been made’. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala of Nepal later said the decision to deny access to the helicopters was due to limited space at Kathmandu airport and was not politically motivated. The aircraft spent three weeks on the ground at Chandigarh Air Force base, India, before being disassembled and flown back to the UK onboard transport planes.
The cost of the mission was borne by the Department for International Development.