Casa engine to be fitted in aircraft

THE Casa engine returned to the PNG Defence Force yesterday by a team of Indonesian military personnel will be fitted into a PNGDF aircraft in preparation for the 2022 National Elections.
Prime Minister James Marape, who is also acting as Minister for Defence, said that he did not want the aircraft, which were vital equipment for the PNG military, to go unused.
“We will be rebuilding the PNGDF, and the aircraft will ensure the air element is ready.”
Indonesia Ambassador Adriana Supandy said the overhauled Casa aircraft engine signified the defence cooperation in part to the agreement concerning cooperation activities in the field of defence in March 2010.
“The engine has been overhauled in Bandung, West Java, and it is a privilege for Indonesia to assist and facilitate the effort to bring this aircraft engine back to the PNG people,” he said.
The Casa engine is owned by PNGDF.
In 2014, when Casa went for a C check, the engine was also brought into Indonesia.
When the team left, the engine was not yet ready so it stayed in Indonesia.
The engine remained until 2018 when the Indonesian ambassador visited the air transport wing during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Port Moresby.
The envoy was informed that the plane had reached its operational hours limit and that its other engine was sitting in a storage area in Indonesia.
That was the start of the ground work to bring the engine back.
The Indonesian army’s air element transported the engine to PNG.
Head of the Indonesia national armed forces strategic intelligence agency Lt-Gen Joni Supriyanto delivered the engine in Port Moresby in a Lockheed C-130H Hercules.