Airport:--- The detective and forensic department is busy conducting an investigation to determine who has tampered with the police helicopter which was at the Princess Juliana International Airport.According to a press release from the police the pilot of the aircraft notified police that something was amidst when she approached the aircraft. The pilot stated that when she arrived at aircraft, she noticed the door on the passenger-side of the aircraft was not locked and that the lock seemed to have been forced.
She further noticed that the lining upholstery from roof on the inside of the aircraft (at the rear) was partially torn down.
The aircraft last flew on October 18th 2008 after having new rotor blades put on for other minor maintenance purposes. However while checking the aircraft this was the situation she encounterd even though the helicopter was supposed to be in flying shape.
The detectives stated in their report that there is a great possibility that the aircraft has been tampered with, however the investigation will determine what took place. The airport authorities who were immediately notified of the situation started an internal investigation and is giving the detectives all neccesary cooperation to try to find out when and what happened to the aircraft. The aircraft will not fly untill it has been completely checked out and declare safe to operate.
