Qantas plane flies with an extra engine on the wing

You've probably never thought too much about how to quickly transport a 10-tonne plane engine, but Qantas has the answer.

Just strap it to the wing of a Boeing 747.

Qantas Flight 63 took off from Sydney with an extra Rolls Royce turbofan attached to the left wing between an inner engine and the plane's body. The engine was not powered; it just came along for the ride to Johannesburg, South Africa.

"We're undertaking this rare task to get our customers and our aircraft on their way as soon as possible — rather than shipping this engine across by boat or chartering a freighter aircraft," Qantas said in a statement. Read more...