autoevolution
 

Iron Maiden's Tour 747 Jet "Ed Force One" Gets into a Fight with a Tug in Chile

Yes, it has come to this: a heavy metal band uses an entire 747 jet as its tour bus, but when that band is the legendary Iron Maiden - and when you think about what its shows look like - this information comes as less of a shock.
Iron Maiden's 747 damaged 4 photos
Photo: Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden's 747 gets damagedIron Maiden's 747 gets damagedIron Maiden's 747 gets damaged
It was less than a month ago that the band unveiled its Boeing 747-400 monster jet that was supposed to carry the members, the staff and the props all over the world for the tour called "Book of Souls." The best bit is that the plane is naturally flown by a professional pilot, but his name is Bruce Dickinson and when he's not landing Jumbo Jets, he can be seen screaming his lungs out on the stage.

Yes, the band's lead singer is also an avionics nutter who's been flying planes ever since 1990, so getting to do this - fly a 747 and sing on the stage - must be close to heaven for him. Unfortunately, the "Ed Force One" - the name chosen for the aircraft following an online contest, which hints at the band's well-known zombie mascot called Eddie - suffered a bit of a setback on an airport in Chile.

The good news is there were no human casualties (two Chilean airport staff members were injured, but are now expected to make full recoveries), but the 747 received plenty of damage that will keep it grounded for a while. However, the band has announced that the tour will go on unaffected, so the next show set to take place in Cordoba is happening.

Here are some snippets of what the band's official website had to say about the incident:

Ed Force One was this morning tethered to a tow truck to be taken for refueling prior to flying over the Andes to Cordoba for the next show. On moving the steering pin that is part of the mechanism that connects the ground tug to the aircraft seemingly fell out. On making a turn the aircraft had no steering and collided with the ground tug badly damaging the undercarriage, two of the aircraft's engines and injuring two ground tug operators, both of whom have been taken to hospital. We hope of course that they make a full and speedy recovery and we will be closely monitoring their progress. The flight engineers are on site and evaluating the damage, but their initial report is that the engines have suffered large damage and will require an extended period of maintenance and possibly two new engines.

We are happy to tell our fans in Cordoba that our Killer Krew has sorted out all logistics for us to be there with our full show for you all tomorrow. We expect no disruption to the tour in any way and are looking for a replacement 747 Ed Force One while our current beauty is healed. More news on that later. Until then, believe me, we will get to you all on this tour one way or another wherever you are.

We are also delighted to say that we have been officially informed that the two Chilean airport staff who were injured following the malfunction of the tow truck connecting bolt will make a complete recovery. Best wishes to them and their families.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Vlad Mitrache
Vlad Mitrache profile photo

"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories