Choppers — helicopters transport emergency equipment to retiring leaders (5)
I believe the answer is:
teeth
'choppers' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'helicopters transport emergency equipment to retiring leaders' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'equipment' could be 'tee' (tee is a kind of equipment) and 'tee' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for teeth that I've seen before include "genuine power" , "The most violent" , "Molars, incisors, etc" , "Dentition" , "they add effectiveness" .)