Looks Like Iron Maiden Will Be Coming To Australia On Ed Force One After All, Following Whirlwind Repairs

By the power of metal (and top-dollar aeronautical engineering), Iron Maiden‘s iconic tour plane Ed Force One has been restored to full health in record time.

The Boeing 747 jumbo copped a shitload of damage following a runway accident in Chile just over a week ago, leaving the band scrambling to make alternative travel arrangements for their most imminent Book Of Souls world tour dates.

Naturally, the setback didn’t stop Maiden from making (and playing the shit out of) all of the scheduled shows on their itinerary. But with two of the plane’s engines being basically ripped apart, the metal masters announced that Ed Force One would require “an extended period of maintenance” and that they’d be sourcing a replacement plane for the remainder of their world tour, including their Aussie dates this May.

Nek minnit, the most heavy metal plane in the world is ready to hit the Empire Of The Clouds once again.

Maiden have shared a lengthy Facebook post, revealing that two 5000kg, $4 MILLION DOLLAR jet engines were flown 12,000 kilometres to replace Ed Force One’s rekt turbines, with the transplant performed by tech experts who were rushed in from Iceland and Saudi Arabia.

So it looks like Iron Maiden fans Down Under will be treated to the site of the rifflords touching down on Australian soil onboard their iconic Ed Force One after all, piloted by the most badass frontman in the world, Bruce Dickinson.

He commented:

“The speed and thoroughness of this incredibly complex operation was stunning and we are so very pleased to get our plane back! We would like to thank Air Atlanta and their terrific rescue team for a fantastic effort in achieving this in the time they did… We are sorry though for our fans in Cordoba, Buenos Aires, Rio and Belo Horizonte who missed out seeing the plane, but we hope they enjoyed the concerts as much as we did.

We should also thank our Killer Krew who found themselves at lunchtime on the Saturday of the accident with over 20 tons of equipment at the airport in Santiago and over 60 people all to get to Cordoba for early the next day to set up the huge show we are carrying. The distance is “only” 1000km, but with a small matter of the Andes in between! They did it , by the skin of the teeth, and all went very well for the show in Cordoba and the other cities EF1 just missed.

It’s quite a feat of logistics to find and put into action at such short notice all the transport, replacement air-charters, schedule flights etcetera to enable us to play those next four shows on time without EF1, our transport for everything. Great effort, team, many thanks from all of us.”

Read Maiden’s full report of Ed Force One’s repairs below, or or check out some of what you can expect from Maiden on their upcoming Australian tour, here.