Massive U.S. military plane refuels in Regina

The Regina Airport got a massive surprise on Friday.

A United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III coming in from Honolulu landed in the Queen City to refuel before heading for Portugal.

According to the United States Air Force, the C-17 is used to transport cargo and troops to military bases around the world.

James Bogusz has been the Regina Airport Authority’s CEO for the past seven years, but said he’s never seen that particular aircraft land in Regina before.

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“This is a massive plane,” Bogusz explained. “If you look online, the weight is upwards of three plus 737 aircrafts. Like, it’s a big, big, big aircraft.”

But despite its size, Bogusz said the plane does not need an extended runway, as it’s designed to land on short airstrips.

“It does not need a lot of runway,” he explained. “These things are military designed, and they’re all power.”

According to Bogusz, military aircraft landing at airports across the country is not unusual.

“We really go out of our way to accommodate both Canadian (and) U.S. military,” he said. “It’s just part of the deal we have, being one of the national airport system airports.”

Bogusz said the plane took on three truckloads of fuel before continuing its journey to Portugal.

–with files from 980 CJME’s Abby Zieverink