PLANE SILLY
Page 27
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Recovery vehicles get sent out to pick up all sorts, but the Hawk suspects there were some raised eyebrows when the call came in that an airliner was in need of a tow.
The 70-tonne Boeing 757 got stuck in the mud after it slipped off the runway at Southend Airport. Luckily
there were no passengers on board the plane, which was heading back to Manchester: the accident happened as it was taxiing along the runway. Enter Service Garage, a local firm which is contracted by the airport to come to the rescue in these cases.
With a fleet of 40 recovery vehicles to choose from it was soon on the scene with two suitable trucks to winch the aircraft back onto the runway. Even suit was a fivehour operation, as Service Garage managing director John Vickery explains: "A lot of calculations had to be made because of the structure of the plane.
"It wasn't just a matter of pulling!"