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Pulling a plane to raise money to help fight preventable blindness

Teams of 20 from many Calgary businesses participated in the 2019 Plane Pull for Sight, hosted by Orbis Canada. (Photo courtesy Orbis Canada) Teams of 20 from many Calgary businesses participated in the 2019 Plane Pull for Sight, hosted by Orbis Canada. (Photo courtesy Orbis Canada)
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If you've ever wondered what it looks like to pull a plane, go directly to the FedEx ramp at Calgary airport

That's because starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Orbis Plane Pull for Sight  kicks off for the first time since 2019.

It features teams of up to 20 people working together to pull a 60-tonne FedEx 757 cargo plane faster than the competition.

Proceeds from the event go to Orbis Canada, which is dedicated to ending avoidable blindness around the world.

A team attempts to pull a 60 tonne FedEx cargo plane at the Calgary International Airport during Saturday's fundraiser for Orbis Canada

Each team raises $3,000 before the event.

Since its founding in 1982, Orbis has conducted training programs in over 92 countries, working with hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, biomedical engineers and other medical professionals.

They currently are operating over 60 different projects around the world, including in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, Cameroon, Peru, Mongolia and Indonesia.

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