The base is located in Al Bateen air base Abu Dhabi, There is another base in Al Ain and the third will be opened soon in the Western Area. I interviewed the Head of Maintenance and Technical Supply, Major Adel Abdul-Aziz.
First we talked about when the base was established.'' It was established in 1997 by an order of H.H. Sheik Saif Bin Zayed, and I have been working in this field for the last 25 years” Adel Al Sajwani said. The work time is usually from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm, but he always has crews on duty overnight 7/24. Then I asked him about his work; is it considered only in the office or outdoors also, and the answer was, “Actually I do both: some administration work in the office and some checking, inspecting and flying outdoors of course”. What I have understood about his work is that he does many things due to his responsibilities. He follows up the aircraft maintenance with the engineers to ensure the serviceability and the availability whenever they are needed. With his working team, he tries to provide all necessary spare parts and that needs a lot of work, sending inquiries for many companies from in and out the country, collecting the quotations and studying them because they must meet the aviation standards; then they send them to the finance department and follow up till they get the approval before they place the purchase order and they need to have a proper store to store all the parts too. Major Adel pointed out that the Abu Dhabi Police Air Wing has many tasks to perform such as search & rescue, air ambulance, air born camera with Infra red capability with live transmission to the Police operation room for all kinds of events, VIP transportation and general logistic support for all police forces. Furthermore, they have around 16 helicopters divided into three different types of aircraft as follows: 8 AW 139, 6 AW 412 & 2 BK 117, and each aircraft is equipped with different equipment to meet different types of missions.
I asked “What is the situation that makes you have to send a helicopter?” “We do react and send an aircraft to many different causes such as a bad accident with casualties, an accident in a remote area, people lost in the desert or in the sea, transport of a patient in a critical condition from one hospital to another, ”he answered .The Air Wing of the Abu Dhabi Police operates & serves all the emirates on a daily basis, not only Abu Dhabi; they even reach Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Khoor Fakaan, Sharjah, Ajman, Um Al Quwain, except Dubai because they have their own helicopters but the Air Wing of the Abu Dhabi Police are always there whenever they need any help. “As a matter of fact, we’ve been already in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia & Bahrain”. When asked about the techniques in these airplanes he told me that the aircraft are equipped with the latest avionics instruments and that makes the flying comfortable day or night & their pilots are well trained to get to any destination by using the navigation & the GPS systems, as well as all other equipment that helps the search & rescue operations and the air ambulance operations.
He also complained as a Head of Maintenance about some of the most common problems e.g. the high temperature of the engines in the summer and sometimes some electrical problems appear, but it is very normal & usually it is not dangerous & the pilot can still land safely & the engineers solve the problem. After we had a cup of tea and some dessert, I kept asking him questions and one of the questions was “Do you manufacture these aircraft in the UAE or buy them from other countries?, The answer was “Unfortunately we don’t have the capability yet, therefore we buy them from more advanced countries in this field like the USA, Germany & Italy”. Last but not least we discussed about the safety in these aircraft. The answer was comforting actually; they have many safety precautions to be done before, during & after each flight and they follow the world’s aviation rules & regulations.” I think it is more fun & interesting than it is dangerous and you can be safe as long as you maintain the aircraft very well & follow the safety rules & regulations of the aviation industry'' he said''. How many days does it take to repair a helicopter, and how much does it cost?” I said: So he answered by saying “Well, it depends on the type or the faults that appear, but normally we’ve a scheduled maintenance inspection program for each aircraft. About the cost, it is high of course, but our government cares more about the advantages of saving people’s lives than the cost”.
In the end I was wondering if he likes his job under all this pressure but he surprised me with his answer by saying “Of course, I like it very much & I’m enjoying working in the aviation field too”. At the end of this interview Major Adel was more than happy to have me.“ I would like to thank you for this nice interview & I hope that I’ve cleared up all your questions with my best regards & wishes, “he said.Bibliography:
