As part of its mission to restore electrical power in American Samoa, FEMA flew in generators using cargo planes. On one mission, FEMA used an Antonov 225 cargo plane. It is the world's largest fixed wing aircraft.Mark Ackerman, FEMA Staging Area Group Supervisor, explains the logistical considerations that went into using this cargo plane.

Good morning, my name is Mark Ackerman, I am the Staging Area Group Supervisor on the Island of American Samoa.  Behind me is the Antonov.  (It is) the largest airplane on the planet.  Onboard the Antonov are 10 500 kw generators.  We are about to begin the off-load process.  They???ll be brought over to our generator staging area.  It is about two miles away.  In the next several days they will be deployed from the generator staging area out onto the island.  The reason they are here is because there is not enough generation capability on island with the loss of one of the power plants.  These generators, plus our generators that are already on island will help stabilize the electrical grid throughout the island.  

The reason why this plane was used to transport the cargo is (because) we have all 10 generators on one aircraft.  This is the only aircraft capable of moving this load at once.