Airmen aboard C-17 Globemaster IIIs from Hickam AFB transported dolphins from the Navy Marine Mammals Program in San Diego, Calif., to Noumea, New Caledonia, Nov. 8 to locate and dispose of more than 200 contact mines that were leftover from World War II.

The active-duty and Reserve C-17 aircrew from Hickam AFB helped deliver the dolphins for Lagoon Minex 2009, a humanitarian project in which U.S. forces along with French, Australian and New Zealand military will work together Nov. 9 to 20 to locate and dispose of the World War II mines.

The dolphins are integral to the exercise because of their biological sonar capabilities. They are used for underwater surveillance and mine detection, location, marking and recovery.

The organizers of the exercise couldn’t afford to transport the animals to New Caledonia. Assistance arrived with the cooperation of a C-17 crew from the 535th Airlift Squadron here and a Reserve C-17 crew from the 452nd Air Mobility Wing from March Air Reserve Base, Calif. Through current projects and training missions, a plan was put into action to get the dolphins moved.

The nine-person crew from Hickam AFB said they were happy to do their part in this worthwhile exercise.

Airmen from McChord Air Force Base, Wash., will take the mammals back to San Diego at the end of the exercise.

Dolphins are not the typical cargo for a C-17.

British police said they stopped a United Airlines pilot from flying while intoxicated earlier this week, pulling him from a Boeing 767 aircraft at London’s Heathrow airport and charging him with being on duty while his blood-alcohol level was over the limit.

Scotland Yard said the Erwin Vermont Washington, 51, was taken off the plane just before take-off Monday, Washington, of Lakewood Colorado, has been released on bail.

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy sait that “the pilot has been removed from service” during an investigation.

“United’s alcohol policy is among the strictest in the industry, and we have no tolerance for violation of this well-established policy,” she said.

Approximately nine people have gone missing after a US Coast Guard plane and a Marine chopper collided around California’s Pacific Ocean coastline.

The mid-air collision took place around the eastern sea line of San Clemente Island off the coast of Southern California, late on Thursday. A Coast Guard C-130 surveillance-air hauler reportedly smashed into an AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter belonging to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is stationed at the Marine Corps Base Camp, Pendleton.

A US Federal Aviation Administration official confirmed the crash and noted that another pilot near the crash site reported having observed a ‘fireball’ at the time.

The US Navy and Coast Guard have dispatched search and rescue missions to the suspected collision zone for the seven-crew members of the four-engine C-130 Hercules and the chopper’s two-member squad.

There has been no further information on the cause of the accident so far.

Ten V-22 Ospreys were launched into Afghanistan from the amphibious assault ship Bataan on Friday.

The Ospreys, in the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, flew to Camp Bastion. It was the first unit to bring the Ospreys into Afshanistan, according to a statement from the Navy. There are more than 2,200 Marines and Sailors in the unit.

The Ospreys, which formed the bulk of VMM-263 (Reinforced) with the 22nd MEU will join Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 as part of MEB-Afghanistan’s aviation combat element, Marine Aircraft Group 40, according to the Marine Corps.

The Osprey has overcome controversy after a history of crashes. Thirty Marines and civillians died during its development.

Two of the first six aircraft crashed in 1989 during testing. A July 1992 accident during a landing at Quantico Marine Corps Air Station killed seven people.