A giant soviet-era cargo plane has touched down at the Victoria International Airport.
The 4-engine, Russian built Ilyushin IL-76, has been chartered by the Chilean government to transport a firefighting helicopter from Victoria to Santiago, Chile.
Diedier Monier, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Vancouver Island Helicopter (VIH), says his crew will disassemble the helicopter, load it into the plane, and it will be brought down to Chile.
Two mechanics are travelling with the helicopter on it's two day voyage, and they will help reassemble it in the following days. Meanwhile, the two pilots have already headed down to Chile to fill in the necessary paperwork and ready themselves for battling wildfires.
Monier says this isn't the first time VIH has lent a hand overseas.
"We've been to China, we've been to Taiwan, we've been to Australia for a few years, fighting fires too. We've been to Peru, moving oil rigs in the jungle. We've been to Cameroon, West Africa. We've been to Pakistan, and Guyana, South America, and Chile."
He says they have helicopters that are world renown, and have incredible performance.
"They have no tail rotor. It's two counter rotating rotors, so all the power goes to the lifting rotors. So they have fantastic performance in altitude and high temperature. So they are pretty exceptional, and that's why we get hired everywhere we go."
Meanwhile, a group of onlookers gathered outside the airport to watch the giant plane land. The 46 metre long multi-purpose heavy transport aircraft was designed in Soviet Russia in 1967. It's now operated by a Ukrainian company to transport big loads around the world.
The plane is parked at the Department of Defence's hangar, and will take off on Wednesday afternoon, stopping in Panama to refuel before going to Santiago, Chile.