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Watch IRON MAIDEN's 'Ed Force One' Plane Land In U.K. Ahead Of DOWNLOAD Appearance

June 12, 2016

Video footage of IRON MAIDEN's Ed Force One plane touching down at East Midlands Airport on Saturday afternoon ahead of the band's headline appearance at the U.K.'s Download festival on Sunday night can be seen below.

Piloted by MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson, the chartered Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet is carrying the band, its crew, and 55 tons of equipment around the world.

Dickinson described Ed Force One as the "way to cause a fuss when you arrive," adding: "Honestly, it's such a beautiful aeroplane. It allows us to do a European itinerary on an intercontinental basis. It's our time machine, our magic carpet."

The Boeing 747 was back in the air in late March after a ten-day emergency repair mission following a ground accident in Santiago, Chile. The incident required the replacing of both of the plane's port side jet engines, a tough proposition at the best of times but not made any easier by the fact of the distances involved in getting such huge components, parts, tools and technical crew to Chile as quickly as possible to get Ed Force One flying again.

Ed Force One is leased from Air Atlanta who went into immediate action following the incident, with technical assistance from Boeing. An emergency meeting was called to create a comprehensive detailed plan for this complex operation — locating suitable engines, thrust reversers, cowlings and parts, working out necessary tooling and technical team, logistics of ground and freight transport and tech team travel and a myriad of other detail. The next couple of days were spent putting these plans meticulously into place.

IRON MAIDEN's world tour, in support of the band's latest album, "The Book Of Souls", kicked off on February 24 in Sunrise, Florida (a suburb of Fort Lauderdale).

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