Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 27, 2023 14:27:29 GMT 12
Hercules to Air N.Z.’s rescue
By LES BLOXHAM, travel editor
Air New Zealand had to charter an R.N.Z.A.F. Hercules for an unusual rescue mission to Singapore on Tuesday.
Stuffed in its hold was a replacement jet engine urgently required for one of the airline’s Boeing 767s stranded there since Monday. The 17,000 km, 32-hour charter will cost Air New Zealand close to $250,000. The total cost of the fault, however, will cost much more.
Eight engineers from the airline’s jet base at Mangere also had to be sent to Singapore on a Qantas flight through Sydney. They completed the engine change yesterday and the B767 was expected back in Auckland this morning, 48 hours late.
The fault led to the cancellation of four flights in the last three days. They included Tuesday’s Christchurch to Melbourne service, and yesterday’s Melbourne-Wellington and Auckland-Singapore flights. About 600 passengers had to be rebooked on either Qantas or Singapore Airlines flights.
The oil pressure fault in the starboard engine was noticed as the B767 was taxiing for the take-off from Singapore on Monday evening. The flight, TE2O to Auckland, was cancelled and most of the 89 passengers were transferred to the other airlines.
The R.N.Z.A.F. was called to the rescue by Air New Zealand because it had no other practical way of getting the replacement jet engine to Singapore. The airline no longer flies the route with its bigger Boeing 747s, which could have carried the engine strapped under a wing, and it would have needed stripping down to fit inside the hold of a B767.
That, an airline spokesman said last evening, would have caused a further delay of at least 36 hours in getting the crippled aircraft back into service.
The R.N.Z.A.F. confirmed it was available for private charters but only when there was no-one else able to do the work and provided it had no overriding operational commitments.
In 1985, the Air Force flew the sound equipment for the pop' band, Dire Straits, from Auckland to Christchurch because there was too much of it to fit into an ordinary freighter. Air New Zealand expects all its flights to be back to normal today.
PRESS, 11 AUGUST 1988
By LES BLOXHAM, travel editor
Air New Zealand had to charter an R.N.Z.A.F. Hercules for an unusual rescue mission to Singapore on Tuesday.
Stuffed in its hold was a replacement jet engine urgently required for one of the airline’s Boeing 767s stranded there since Monday. The 17,000 km, 32-hour charter will cost Air New Zealand close to $250,000. The total cost of the fault, however, will cost much more.
Eight engineers from the airline’s jet base at Mangere also had to be sent to Singapore on a Qantas flight through Sydney. They completed the engine change yesterday and the B767 was expected back in Auckland this morning, 48 hours late.
The fault led to the cancellation of four flights in the last three days. They included Tuesday’s Christchurch to Melbourne service, and yesterday’s Melbourne-Wellington and Auckland-Singapore flights. About 600 passengers had to be rebooked on either Qantas or Singapore Airlines flights.
The oil pressure fault in the starboard engine was noticed as the B767 was taxiing for the take-off from Singapore on Monday evening. The flight, TE2O to Auckland, was cancelled and most of the 89 passengers were transferred to the other airlines.
The R.N.Z.A.F. was called to the rescue by Air New Zealand because it had no other practical way of getting the replacement jet engine to Singapore. The airline no longer flies the route with its bigger Boeing 747s, which could have carried the engine strapped under a wing, and it would have needed stripping down to fit inside the hold of a B767.
That, an airline spokesman said last evening, would have caused a further delay of at least 36 hours in getting the crippled aircraft back into service.
The R.N.Z.A.F. confirmed it was available for private charters but only when there was no-one else able to do the work and provided it had no overriding operational commitments.
In 1985, the Air Force flew the sound equipment for the pop' band, Dire Straits, from Auckland to Christchurch because there was too much of it to fit into an ordinary freighter. Air New Zealand expects all its flights to be back to normal today.
PRESS, 11 AUGUST 1988
