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Polet Cargo Airlines,
the Russian operator of the Antonov An-124-100, (pictured
below) transported the French Robotic submarine ‘Scorpio
2000’ from Istres to Cairo ready to begin its mission
to recover the ‘Black Box’ from flight FHS604
which went down in the Red Sea off the coast of Sharm El-Sheikh,
Egypt.
The 45 ton cargo including the 3.4 tonne submarine ‘Scorpio
2000’, capable of operating to a depth of up to 1,000
meters, and sea search equipment was transported using one
of Polet’s Antonov AN-124-100 aircraft for France
Telecom Marine - a leading worldwide marine specialist.
Polet Cargo Airlines and Charter broker specialist Chapman
Freeborn France organised the Charter. Mikhail Aksarov,
Chief Executive for Polet’s commercial office in Cyprus,
commented “We were faced with very strict loading
and flight deadlines by the client to ensure the submarine
and support equipment reached Cairo on time. However with
our experienced flight team and support personnel we had
complete confidence in meeting the client’s requirements
”
A qualified Load master from Polet liaised on site with
representatives of France Telecom Marine to make sure their
transportation requirements for the submarine and sea search
equipment were met. The Load master’s technical expertise
and experience ensured the whole operation went smoothly
and complied with the transportation requirements. Polet’s
experienced ground crew completed the cargo loading in under
2 hours - well within the scheduled load time. The speed
and efficiency of Polet’s technical ground crew more
than delighted the representatives of France Telecom Marine
and Xavier Mathieu Executive Director of France Telecom
Marine said “I am pleased to be able to say that Polet
have demonstrated themselves to be efficient, professional
and very helpful”.
The submarine and additional sea search equipment were loaded
using Polet’s Antonov AN-124-100 on board overhead
traveling cranes which allow non-wheeled loads of up to
20-tons to be loaded without the need for any external lifting
equipment. The loading took place at a French Military Airbase
in Istres and was delivered to Cairo, Egypt. When Polet’s
Antonov AN-124-100 (RA-82077) landed at Cairo the Egyptian
President, Hosni Mubarak and the French Foreign Minister,
Dominique de Villepin, were there to greet the France Telecom
Marine Team and the Polet Cargo Airlines crew. After unloading
from Polet’s Antonov AN-124-100 the cargo was transported
to its final destination of Sharm El-Sheikh Egypt, ready
for its mission to recover the Boeing 737 black box of the
privately operated Egyptian carrier Flash Airlines.
This successful operation demonstrated once again the professional
attitude and technical ability of all Polet staff and in
particular those involved directly in this project - the
flight crew and technical ground staff who make ‘on
site’ critical decisions to meet transportation and
handling time scales.
Polet Cargo Airlines continues to promote the unique capabilities
of its Antonov AN-124-100 freighter aircraft in the outsize
air cargo transportation marketplace. Its fleet of seven
Antonov AN-124-100 aircraft, with an eighth due to be ready
for action early 2004, makes it a heavyweight champion in
the transportation of super-heavy and outsize air cargo.
And a closing comment by Thomas Reilly, Director of Marketing
for Polet Cargo Airlines, who accompanied the special cargo
from Istres to Cairo”. This was an important operation
carried out efficiently and professionally by our teams
on the ground and in the air and our sincere condolences
go to everyone who suffered a loss in this tragedy”.
Date:- January 2004
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