February 22 - Air Charter Service (ACS) chartered an Antonov AN-124 to deliver a new engine to a Swiss International Airlines Boeing 777-300 aircraft that was grounded in Iqaluit, in the Canadian Arctic, following an emergency landing.
The engine, a General Electric GE90, was delivered safely less than 48 hours after the jet landed in Canada, and the unserviceable engine was then taken to the UK for repair on one of the airlines' seven AN-124s.
The AN-124 remained in Iqaluit for a total of five days, in temperatures of around -30˚C, with a wind chill of -50˚C.
The GE90, which is the most powerful turbofan engine in the world, measured 7.25 m in length, 3.78 m in width, and was 3.99 m high. It weighed 13 tonnes.
James Cristofoli, director ACS London Cargo, said: "We were also asked to take engineers and a 25 tonne forklift tractor and support equipment to offload the cargo, asIqaluit didn't have sufficient means. Also on board was a precision fit, inflatable over-wing shelter which allowed the engineers to work on the engine away from the daytime temperature of around -30˚C.
"The diameter of the engine meant the only feasible aircraft forthe job was an Antonov AN-124."
