Qantas has given the term 'winging it' a new meaning, carrying special cargo – an extra 10-tonne engine - to South Africa.
Flight QF63 from Sydney to Johannesburg jetted off with the extra passenger on board and its extra weight meant it had to make a refuelling pitstop in Perth.
The Boeing 747 has the ability to carry a fifth engine, fitted between the body of the aircraft and the inner-most engine on the port (left) side of the aircraft.
"The extra engine isn't powered up for the flight – we're essentially ferrying across a very large spare part from our engineering HQ in Sydney so it can be fitted to one of our other Boeing 747s in Johannesburg," Qantas said in a statement.
They say they did it because it's the fastest way to "get our customers and our aircraft on their way as quickly as possible", as opposed to shipping.
Once the flight has landed, the extra engine will be installed on flight QF64 which will fly back to Sydney.
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