Despite being under shelter-in-place orders stemming from the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, engineers from the U.S. Air Force managed to fix one of its assets remotely.

Engineers from the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hill Air Force Base in Utah fixed a bullet hole in the underbelly of an A-1 Warthog from their homes using VPNs, email and phones.

The remote engineers were called upon when those on the ground with the plane struggled with repairing the bullet hole, which was sustained during a mission at an undisclosed deployed location. Once connected, the remote engineers instructed those deployed with the jet to cut a 3 in hole into the underbelly, revealing a crack in the structure with three sheared fasteners in addition to the bullet lodged in the fuel cell cavity floor crack.

The remote engineers examined the damage and remotely communicated fixes to those on the ground without ever leaving their homes.

In addition to proving useful amid a pandemic, the tools may also prove useful when an engineer’s expertise is required overseas, potentially eliminating the cost of flights halfway around the world.