Antonov Airlines has transported five Black Hawk helicopters in a single AN-124-100 flight from Rzeszów in Poland to Angeles in the Philippines. The cargo weighed 35 tonnes in total and is the second delivery of the Polish-built S-70i Black Hawk helicopters to the Philippines.

The loading procedure took five hours to complete using winches AN-124-100’s aircraft. Each S-70i helicopter measured 1.75 by 3.2 by 3.9 metres and weighed 5.6 tonnes. Detailed loading and unloading plans were developed by Antonov Airlines’ in-house engineers to ensure the safe stowage and transport of the military cargo within the AN-124-100’s cargo cabin specifications.

“Although the total payload in terms of weight was considerably light for our aircraft, loading 5 Helicopters safely and transporting them without damage takes considerable collaboration. We have been working closely with both Sikorsky as well as their Logistics Supplier Helicopter International Shipping Services (HISS) for the past several months to ensure that all current and future program requirements were met”, said Amnon Ehrlich, Director North America – Aerospace, Government and Defence Programs.

The first transport under the agreement was completed in November 2020 and was also for five S-70i Black Hawk helicopters, which were delivered to Clark Air Base, north of the Philippine capital, Manila.