The UK Government organized a complex military operation to deliver medical supplies to Tristan da Cunha after a hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship MV Hondius. With the island's small hospital running low on oxygen and supplies, the RAF deployed an Airbus A400M transport plane with a Voyager tanker for the 4,218-mile journey from Ascension Island.

Six paratroopers from the 16 Air Assault Brigade tandem-jumped at 7,000 ft while 3.3 tonnes of medical supplies were dropped from just 175 altitude. The operation required precise navigation through unpredictable winds and dangerous terrain between cliffs and ocean, completed as daylight faded during the island's winter.

The medical team established base in Prince Philip Hall, providing relief for Tristan's hospital staff treating the suspected hantavirus case. Administrator Philip Kendall called it "a truly historic day" as islanders expressed gratitude for the unprecedented low-altitude flight that brought critical supplies to the world's most remote inhabited community.