Otter number 17 was delivered to the de Havilland Aircraft Company Ltd., DHC’s parent company in England, on 31 July 1953 registered G-ANCM. It was shipped to Leavesden and re-assembled there. It was to serve as the European demonstrator based at Hatfield, outside of London, a role it fulfilled for nearly four years. It went on a number of demonstration tours, including one to Norway and Sweden, flown by George A. Neal, DHC’s chief test pilot, where it was shown to civil and military operators. It was also demonstrated in Portugal and Spain.

The Otter was sold in March 1957 to the Indian Air Force, being replaced as European demonstrator by G-AOYX (204). With the Indian Air Force it took serial IM-1057. It survived its tour of duty and was preserved in the Museum at Kalaikunda Air Base, some seventy miles west of Calcutta, part of the Diamond Jubilee Museum at Kalaikunda.

In or about 2012 it was relocated to the Shillong Landing Ground, in the north-east of India, where it currently is. It was fully renovated and painted in a grey/green camouflage scheme, albeit one it may not have worn in service. It is now on display at Shillong, part of the Eastern Air Command HQ Museum.