In 2009, the Albanian AF ("Forca Ajrore Shqiptare") ordered five Cougars for troop transport, Medevac, SAR and VIP duties. Unfortunately, the 1st one (serialled FA-630) crashed during a pre-delivery testflight in July 2012, while it was still with Eurocopter in France. The remaining four are based at Tirana Farka Heliport (LAFK) and FA-633 shown here returns from the acceptance flight after undergoing heavy maintenance at RUAG Aerospace in Alpnach. RUAG is a well known and competent Super Puma / Cougar MR&O center, drawing from 35 years of maintaining the Swiss AF Super Pumas.
This photo is copyright © Adrian Romang, and may not be used or published in any way without permission.
It was added on 2 January 2022, and has since been viewed 1233 times.
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