Outstanding CF Ostende Flies Very Interesting Cargo in the New Year

“AOG Engine Coil to Banjul”
 
Chapman Freeborn’s Ostende office started the New Year with some very interesting cargo charters indeed!

Late in the evening of Saturday 8th January, our Duty officer received a call from a major airline with an AOG problem. A Boeing 767 was stranded in Banjul, Gambia, along with over 200 passengers, following a bird strike, and a new engine coil was needed straight away.

A replacement coil was sourced in Nimes, France and our experience immediately alerted us that this was an AN12 freighter requirement. Of course, there was nothing sat in the nearby locality at this time, but we found one which was immediately available out of Sofia.

As Saturday 8th was a national holiday in Bulgaria, the aircraft flew to Nimes at the first possible opportunity after permits and traffic rights were arranged landing at 11:00Z on Sunday 9th for quick loading of the new part. There was a brief 30 minutes delay departing from Nimes owing to heavy snowfall and then the aircraft departed for nonstop flight to Banjul, arriving 21:50Z, a pretty rapid solution to what was a very pressing problem for Dutch airlines. Perhaps the holidaymakers were a little disappointed that we got the replacement there so quickly as they were enjoying a little unplanned extension to their Gambian vacation!

“Manatee from Singapore to Portugal”

And then on Friday 13th January, we also received an enquiry from a client in Luxembourg to fly a manatee (marine mammal) with two veterinary attendants from Singapore Zoological Gardens to the Zoomarine Park in Albufeira, Portugal. Like any live animal transportation, the conditions had to be very specific to the requirements of the beast and this was no different – the aircraft had to have a pressurized hold, the temperature had to be maintained at 22-24 degrees Celsius and with the air pressure stable at 3,500ft. A non-stop flight was also preferred.

The well traveled manatee was packed in a dedicated transport case with a little water and was transported by scheduled freighter service from Singapore to Luxembourg and then transferred on the ramp to a waiting AN26 operated by a Hungarian air cargo specialist for the transfer to Faro, Portugal.

There were many worrying factors to this flight – following the schedule of both aircraft to manage a rapid transfer, watching the Luxembourg weather which was cold and foggy and certainly not at the manatee’s preferred temperature of 22-24 degrees! And of course, the flight was taking place on Friday 13th which was not a good omen…

Nonetheless, we defied superstition and weather held in our favor. The AN26 arrived 30 minutes before the 747F and the animal had been loaded in position 2, ready for immediate offload and transfer. A forklift was on hand to whiz the manatee carefully into its perfectly heated AN26 and was airborne 2 hour after arriving.

She is now happily enjoying her new home in the temperate climes of Portugal… a warm and happy ending!