American Airlines donated a retired MD-80 jet to George T. Baker Aviation School Friday, making it one of the only accredited aviation schools in the country to have a commercial airliner on school grounds.

But there was a slight problem. The 39-ton plane had to be moved from Miami International Airport (MIA) to the nearby Aviation School. The job required lifting the plane over State Road 112 and LeJeune Road, using a 500-ton crane equipped with a 400-foot telescoping boom, and then hauling the plane to the school.

“Moving the airplane was truly an engineering feat, requiring extensive collaboration between American, Odebrecht and almost a dozen companies and government agencies,” said Peter Dolara, American’s Senior Vice President based in Miami. “It was a tough job, but we couldn’t be more thrilled for the students at George T. Baker, who will get invaluable hands-on experience with a commercial aircraft.”

The move took place around 0100 Friday. Miami-Dade County and airport officials had to close a runway and surrounding roads, remove light poles, trees, and fencing, as well as build a temporary gravel road to transport the plane to the school, located adjacent to MIA.

“This is the kind of challenging project we eagerly meet head-on,” said Gilberto Neves, President and CEO of Odebrecht USA. “You can’t just fly an MD-80 into a school parking lot. It takes a lot of planning and careful execution.”

Aero-news.net

Tagged with:

Filed under: Aviation Mechanic News

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!