Express delivery giant TNT always has truly uplifting experiences when it moves unusual or unwieldy 'packages' around the globe - and it was certainly the case when it carried out a precision-like movement of a 1.5-tonne helicopter from an airfield in the south of England to India.
The Special Services team at Britain's leading business-to-business express company were up against the toughest of tasks with this latest assignment - the size of the helicopter meant that its blades had to be detached in order to fit inside the cargo plane - with an incredible 15 millimetres to spare.
The project was taken on by TNT after Mumbai-based helicopter leisure business Aviation Pvt decided to buy a new chopper for their fleet. The £500,000 Bell Jet Ranger III was bought from the Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey.
Andy Laker, General Manager, Airfreight, explained: "The nature of TNT Special Services means we want to carry through TNT's strapline every time - Sure We Can!
"We have moved some tricky consignments in the past, like a 20-tonne power generator to the top of a mountain on a tiny Hebridean island and a giant panda from a zoo in Shanghai to Madrid, but this one really was a challenge.
"In order to get the helicopter to fit in the cargo plane, we had to have a full understanding of the helicopter's components and figure out how we could reduce the overall height so it would get into the Cathay Pacific plane.
"The team managed to reduce the height by making several adjustments - including removing the chopper's blades. In the end, the helicopter just fitted - with only 15mm clearance!"
From Redhill, the chopper was lifted onto a low-loader to make the short journey to Heathrow airport. The following 4,400-mile journey to Mumbai went without a hitch.
Suneet Rawat, Director at Aviation Pvt, said: "This is a job I knew not many people could tackle, so I was delighted when TNT Special Services agreed to transport the helicopter.
"This model is part of our expansion plans to add more leisure flights in Delhi."