Iraqi Ministry of Oil EC145 now operated by IAAC

During the annual Army Anniversary parade over Baghdad that took place on 6 January 2024, two surprising participants were seen: EC145 helicopters of the Ministry of Oil that now sported Iraqi Army Aviation Command (IAAC) serials.

Since the delivery of the final two helicopters in June 2017, they did not carry any serials or registrations. Scramble Magazine assesses that the trigger to incorporate them in the IAAC inventory might have been the crash of an Iraqi Ministry of Oil EC145 in the Nukhaib desert in Anbar Governorate (western Iraq) on 25 August 2022.

Back in June 2014, the Ministry of Oil ordered four EC145 twin-engine light utility helicopters that are used for oil field surveillance, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Passenger Transport.

Although the Oil Exploration Company is a non-military Iraqi Government body comprising of an Air Transport Department and subsequent Aviation Division, the aircraft are maintained and operated by the Iraqi Army Aviation Command (IAAC). They seem to be stationed at Taji, the 1st Army Aviation Base but they also operate from Baghdad and in the province of Basrah.

YI-790 and YI-793 were seen at this year's parade. The tie-ups between the manufacturer’s serial number and the YI-registration are not confirmed yet. If you can confirm those, please let us now at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Details, to be confirmed, of the four EC145s are: YI-790 (c/n 9775, ex D-HADU), YI-791 (c/n 9778, ex D-HADY), YI-792 (c/n 9787, ex D-HADK) and YI-793 (c/n 9785, ex D-HADA)

Photo credit: @baghdadspotterr