Eastern Cape police management says the Port Elizabeth police helicopter which has been grounded for several months, will be back in the air by Friday.
That's the word from provincial police spokesperson, brigadier Marinda Mills.
She was commenting on a report that 13 of the police airwing choppers country-wide had their wings clipped as a result of a maintainence tender not being awarded.
The helicopters need to be serviced every 100 hours of flying time.
Mills told Algoa FM News that even though the police chopper was grounded the SA Airforce had been on stand-by to fulfill any policing duties.
"We've got four helicopters that are available throughout the province. We've had one helicopter, the Port Elizabeth helicopter, that was affected by head office tenders and service arrangements," she said.
However, Mills said a technician has arrived in Bhisho and that "helicopter's being serviced at present and on Friday it should be available for deployment."
