1 day Ago By Jonathan E. Hendry
Over 10,000 people are estimated to have attended the annual Dulles Day Festival and Plane Pull on Saturday, September 14th, 2024. The event was hosted by Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to promote aviation within the community and raise money for the Special Olympics. One of the most exciting moments of the day was a plane pull, where teams from across the country gathered to tug a commercial jet by hand using a giant tow rope.
What is a plane pull? The Dulles Plane Pull has been sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department since 1992 and is the highlight of the event. This year, 80 teams of 25 individuals gathered to see which team could pull an 82-ton plane 12 feet in the fastest time. Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.
This year, two planes were used in the pull. Half the teams lined up to pull a cargo aircraft compliments of FedEx . The Boeing 757-200SF/PCF was originally delivered to United Airlines as a passenger aircraft in 1990, and it flew with the Star Alliance carrier for 23 years.
It was converted to a cargo aircraft at the end of 2013 and has flown with FedEx ever since. Taking a look at how passenger aircraft assume new lives transporting goods. The largest carrier at Dulles, United Airlines , contributed a passenger jet to the pull this year.
According to data from ch-aviation, the Boeing 737-900ER (registered N63899) was ordered by United in 2015 and delivered late the following year. The jet holds 179 passengers across a three-class configuration and is estimated to be worth $27,780,000. The teams each fundraised at least $2,000 Special Olympics Virginia in order to be eligible for the pull, with some companies sending more than one team to compete.
Who won the contest? The teams competed admirably throughout the event, which ran for most of the day. A grandstand was set up on one side, and an announcer gave the ready, set, go to the waiting teams and encouraged them as they struggled to pull the heavy aircraft. After each pull, the teams gathered to be weighed en masse.
Naturally, none of the 25-person groups came anywhere close to the 82 tons of Boeing jets, imbuing each team with a sense of pride. Not all the teams were successful on the first try, and several groups required the assistance of staff or onlookers to reach the required 12 feet. However, one team stood out above the rest.
For the 15th consecutive year, the award for the fastest time to pull an aircraft 12 feet went to the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office, with a total time of 5.921 seconds! What else was going on? The 17-acre airfield site provided dramatic runway views and hosted an array of activities for a memorable experience for enthusiasts of all ages. In addition to the plane pull, the event featured status aircraft displays, live music performances, a classic car show, kid's activities (including a truck pull), and rides in the airport's fire trucks and mobile lounges.
Did you know about these unusual vehicles? One of the highlights was the chance to ride in the airport's famous mobile lounges in exchange for a $1 donation to the Special Olympics. As opposed to the fire truck rides that just went up and down the taxiway, the mobile lounges drove all across the Dulles campus, allowing passengers to see the vast majority of the airport and spot some of the planes currently on the ground, including a United jet in the iconic Star Alliance livery. All proceeds went to Special Olympics Virginia, and the event raised $580,000 for the charity, bringing the total amount raised to a little over $6 million across the 32 years the Dulles Day has been operating.
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