In a first, aeroplane takes epic road trip

The aviation authorities in Pakistan achieved a remarkable feat on Thursday by transporting an aircraft from one city to another by road, without breaking up its fuselage, officials of the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) said.

This was the first time in Pakistan's history that a plane took a road trip. Officials removed the wings and tailfins of the 110-foot-long and 240-seat Boeing-737 to transport it from Karachi to the Civil Aviation Training Institute in Hyderabad on an 80-foot-long trailer via the Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway.

The Boeing-737 was part of the fleet of a private airline. However, in 2014, the plane was grounded at the Karachi Airport. Now, it was transported to Hyderabad for the training purposes, PAA Assistant Director Muhammad Munir Alam told The Express Tribune.

"The aircraft is being transferred to the Hyderabad Civil Aviation Training Institute to provide training," Alam said. "It will be used for the training in firefighting and other matters related to the aviation industry," he added.

According to Alam, another plane would also be transported to Hyderabad next week. "Both the aircraft are owned by the PAA. This is the first operation to transfer planes to a training institute," he said, adding that through these planes, the institute would be able to provide more effective training.

For the transportation of fuselage, a multi-axle trailer was used. The height of the plane was kept at 18 feet to easily pass the overhead bridges and easily negotiate turns on the motorway. According to the official at the cargo service Humayun Khalid, the trailer would enter the Hyderabad city after 11pm.

However, according to our Hyderabad correspondent Z Ali, there was a slight change in the schedule, as the cargo would stay overnight in Noorabad - about halfway between the two cities and continue its journey on Friday (today).

The cargo company officials said that about 40-tonne cargo was travelling at a speed of 20-30 kilometres per hour. They decided not to continue the journey and stay overnight because of heavy night-time traffic on the motorway.

The operation to transport the plane began after a thorough survey of the route, including the measurements of all the overhead bridges from Karachi to Hyderabad and all possible obstacles were studied in advance, the officials said.

According to Khalid, the aircraft was dismantled in 45 days in Karachi - separation of wings and tail, and wheels etc, adding that the aircraft would be reassembled in 10 to 15 days after reaching its destination. "This is the first operation that our cargo company is transporting an aircraft from one city to another."

The other plane to be transported to Hyderabad next week is bigger than this. For that a bigger 150-foot-long trailer would be used which could sustain 150 tonnes of weights, according to representative of the transport company Uzair Osmani.

A spokesperson for the Motorway Police said the motorway would remain open during the transfer of the disabled aircraft and "protocol will be provided to the cargo trailer by the Motorway Police". He added that the trailer would be driven in the first line on the side of the motorway.