Rescuing an AOG in the Azores

By Ken Ying | June 6, 2021
unloading large cargo from an aircraft

The MNX Way

  • A U.S. commercial airliner on its way to Europe suddenly had engine trouble and diverted to the Azores.
  • The facilities there weren’t equipped for a major mechanical repair. A replacement engine, mechanics and equipment had to be transported ASAP from the U.S.
  • The MNX Air Charter Team and MNX Engine Logistics Team  arranged for a charter aircraft, mechanics and equipment to deliver a replacement engine. After the swap, the aircraft returned to the U.S. with the mechanics and defective engine.
  • MNX monitored and kept the air carrier informed of status throughout the journey. After the engine was replaced, the passengers continued to Europe with the shortest possible delay.

 

It’s a problem no pilot ever wants to see—and this time, it was happening over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Engine malfunction. 

With hundreds of passengers aboard, the U.S. commercial airliner on a flight to Europe was diverted to the Azores. And while the runaway was welcome, the location was not. The facilities there were not equipped to manage a major mechanical repair.

It was an air carrier’s worst nightmare: Aircraft on Ground (AOG), with anxious passengers ready to land in Europe, not stuck on an island halfway there.

The carrier created the best plan to get the plane flying again: ship a replacement engine from the U.S. to the Azores—along with the expert mechanics and equipment required to perform the complex task.

The solution was precision logistics—and MNX was the way.