Grounded aircraft gets new engine in two days in Okinawa AOG shipment

Freight forwarders AGX and Knot Global Japan teamed up in handling an aircraft on the ground (AOG) logistics shipment that sent a passenger plane back into the air within two days of an engine malfunction.

On Feb. 27, a commercial passenger aircraft carrying 379 passengers made an emergency landing at Naha Airport (OKA) in Okinawa due to engine trouble. The captain received indications of the engine malfunction soon after take-off on the Kuala Limpur-to-Honolulu flight and was able to land safely at OKA.

AGX responded to the call and chartered an Il-76 aircraft within four hours to carry a replacement Trent 700 engine, which weighed about 1,600 kilograms. To expedite the process of receiving necessary permissions for clearance, which is typically 10 days at OKA, AGX implored the help of Knot Global Japan. The clearance was acquired within two days and the engine was delivered to engineers at Naha Airport March 1. Within hours, the engine was replaced and the aircraft was back in the air.