Lynden Air Cargo recently welcomed a new Hercules to its fleet, N407LC/P2-LAE, and it is already hard at work in Papua New Guinea. “Historically we only certify a new aircraft every five years or so,” explains Paul Willing, Lynden Air Cargo Vice President of Maintenance. “Getting the aircraft ready and showing compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations is a major undertaking, especially for aircraft that have been operated under foreign registry for their entire service lives.”
Since the new Herc was destined for operation in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Lynden Air Cargo had to earn an FAA airworthiness certificate plus a certificate from PNG. “Once we were cleared with the FAA we were only halfway there,” Paul says. To earn a certificate of airworthiness in PNG, Lynden Air Cargo was required to apply for and receive a US Export Certificate of Airworthiness, deregister the aircraft, apply for registration and certificate of airworthiness in PNG and demonstrate conformity with PNG requirements. This was all accomplished in record time – 144 days to be exact.
“The effort was nothing short of Herculean,” Paul says. “The 144-day N407LC/P2-LAE bridging and certification project included many firsts for Lynden Air Cargo, including a concurrent avionics modernization upgrade and installing systems different from our fleet standards.” Lynden Air Cargo President Judy McKenzie agrees that it took a team effort to bring the Herc online with the rest of the fleet. “This is an exciting milestone for us,” she says.
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