Image: Defense.gov News Photo 980909-F-0000N-071

Description: Air Force cargo handlers and loadmasters load the specially made transport tank containing Keiko, the killer whale star of the "Free Willy" movie, onto an Air Force 60K Tunner cargo loader at the Newport Municipal Airport in Newport, Oregon, on Sept. 9, 1998. Keiko was loaded into his specially made transport tank at the Oregon State Aquarium, then transported by United Parcel Service to the airport. The whale will be loaded into a C-17 Globemaster III. The aircraft from the 15th Airlift Squadron and its killer whale cargo will fly nonstop to the Westman Islands in Iceland. The Free Willy Keiko Foundation is paying the Air Force to airlift the whale back to his native waters. The C-17 Globemaster III is the only aircraft that can accomplish moving such a large load and deliver it to a short, remote runway.
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