• Air Charter Service helped transport an injured sea turtle named Snooki from a North Carolina rescue centre to her new home at a Minnesota zoo.
• Due to a spinal injury, Snooki could not return to the wild and required special handling, including temperature regulation and constant moisture.
• ACS arranged a Falcon 20F jet with onboard heating and a handler in the cargo bay to keep her safe and hydrated during the flight. The operation ran smoothly, and Snooki arrived safely at her new, much larger habitat.

Leading aircraft charter specialist, Air Charter Service, was recently contacted by a wildlife rescue centre in North Carolina, looking to find a way of getting an injured sea turtle to its new home.

Richard Thompson, President of ACS’s American offices, said: “Snooki the sea turtle sustained a spinal injury several years ago, limiting her mobility and ruling out of a return to the wild. The rescue centre in North Carolina had been searching for a ‘forever home’ for her for some time, before a zoo in Minnesota fitted the bill – where she will enjoy a space almost 50 times the size of her previous home.

“Snooki couldn’t be out of water for long and needed to be kept warm, so we sourced a Falcon 20F which was able to regulate the temperature through the aircraft’s internal heating system and ensuring heat packs and blankets were available onboard. It was crucial for her to be kept under moisture throughout the flight, so a handler travelled alongside her in the cargo bay with a hand sprayer, using the crew’s jump seat.

“On the day of the charter, one of our New York team travelled to North Carolina to make sure the loading went smoothly. Snooki’s crate was carefully forklifted onto the aircraft and rigged with netting to give the handler access. Everything ran seamlessly and Snooki arrived in Minneapolis St. Paul Airport in good time, ready for her final short road trip before settling into her new home.