Magnetic MRO provides an aircraft for fight against terrorism

Tallinn based Total Technical Care partner Magnetic MRO completed a teardown project for an Airbus A320 aircraft which will be used for the fight against terrorism in Germany by special forces. Magnetic MRO obtained the aircraft after an emergency landing in Tallinn at the start of 2018. In cooperation with a Netherlands partner organization XTRAPartners the airframe found its way to the German Bundeswehr for the training of its special forces.  The teardown project took place over a course of a few weeks in Tallinn Airport where the aircraft had its stabilizers and both wings removed. Aircraft was transported to Calw, near Stuttgart with five large trucks and in addition to careful manoeuvring in Estonia and Germany, it also involved marine transport from Paldiski, Estonia to Lübeck, Germany. “We had done teardown projects before but nothing of this scope,” stated Maksim Kolesnik, Facility and Tooling manager of Magnetic MRO. “The logistics of the teardown and especially the transport provided huge challenges, but after months of hard work we were successful in delivering an aircraft that will now be used for a good cause.” “German Armed Forces turned to me in 2014 already in hopes of obtaining an aircraft that could be used for training to liberate an aircraft after being hijacked,” added Eric P. Vermeulen, the General Manager of XTRAPartners. “We were only able to get an aircraft like this last year through Magnetic MRO since all suitable aircraft before were too expensive for the purpose and budget. This A320 will now be put into good use.” Transport of the wings, stabilizers and fuselage saw German special transporter Hermann-Paule providing five big trucks, which before have transported parts of an Ariane space rocket and other oversize loads. Because of the nature of the fuselage, 3D modelling of the route were provided to make certain the 50-metre truck would fit through the roads and underneath bridges in Estonia and Germany. “It was a very special load and sight to behold. It was the first aircraft fuselage in terms of its big size transported by road in Estonia and one of the biggest in Germany. Now the wings and the stabilizers will be installed back to the fuselage and training sessions can start,” stated Eric P. Vermeulen