Antonov Airlines safely transported five Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk utility-helicopters on a single AN-124-100 flight from Poland to the Philippines.
The AN-124 completed the second consignment of the Polish-built helicopter under a government-to-government agreement from Rzeszów, Poland, to Angeles, the Philippines.
Each of these utility helicopters weighed 5.6 tonnes, and the overall cargo weighted 35 tonnes in total as loading equipment was also loaded. Although the cargo wasn’t heavy for the An-124, safe transportation of the helicopters was crucial.
Each of these helicopter measured is 19.76 meters long and 5.33 meters in height. It took five hours to load the helicopters, and the loading procedure was completed using the AN-124-100’s winches, developed by the airlines’ in-house engineers.
In a statement, Antonov Airlines’ North America Director for Aerospace, Government, and Defence Programs, Amnon Ehrlich, said:
“Although the total payload in terms of weight was quite light for our aircraft – loading five helicopters safely and transporting them without damage takes considerable collaboration. We have been working closely with Sikorsky as well as their logistics supplier Helicopter International Shipping Services (HISS) for several months to ensure that all current and future program requirements are met.”
Feature Image: “Antonov Airlines”