Nearly 350,000 pounds of edible beans were loaded onto two cargo aircraft at Hector International Airport over the past two days. The first aircraft, a Polar Air Cargo 747 aircraft arrived Tuesday morning and the second aircraft, a Heavy Lift AN-124 arrived that evening. The beans, packaged in 105 pound bags, were being shipped to Central America on a relief effort by the United States Department of Agriculture for the victims of Hurricane Mitch.

The loading of the aircraft took longer than expected due to the storm that moved through the area on Tuesday. Both aircraft completed loading early Wednesday morning. The Polar Air Cargo aircraft departed at approximately 9:30 am and the Heavy Lift aircraft departed at 1:40 pm Wednesday afternoon. The departure of the Heavy Lift aircraft drew a large crowd of spectators prior to its departure.

Ground handling and loading of these aircraft was made possible by the combined effort of the North Dakota Air National Guard, Fargo Jet Center, and the Municipal Airport Authority.