As part of the agreement with China, the Patriots' plane could land and remain in Shenzhen for only a certain period of time, in this case no more than three hours.

"That's no different than when we fly the Patriots team from here to the Meadowlands. We have to file a flight plan," Nolan reveals.

Unlike other passengers flying into China nowadays, however, the Team 125 crew would not be forced to quarantine for 14 days because they would never leave the confines of the plane. They'd fly some 12 hours from Anchorage to Shenzhen, wait a maximum of three hours while the respirator masks were loaded into the cargo hold, then immediately fly back to Anchorage. The Patriots insisted on this quarantine waiver because of the urgency to get the masks back to New England and into the hands of health care workers.

Chinese officials granted the request, but for this plan to work with maximum efficiency, the Patriots needed people on the ground in Shenzhen who could make sure all the respirator masks would be waiting at the airport, having been securely passed through customs and safely guarded prior to the plane's arrival.

Nolan and the Patriots eventually found enthusiastic partners from technology giant Tencent, which provided its own 12-member team to complement the dozen Team 125 crew members. Nolan lauded the leaders of Tencent, who had no prior relationship with the Patriots, for their teamwork, generosity, and commitment to the cause.

"Both their CEO [Pony Ma] and president [Martin Lau] are great humanitarians. They're passionate about the medical industry. There are relationships between Tencent, Jiahui International Hospital in Shanghai, and Mass General that made the link easy and they were just ready to help and do the right thing."

Around midday Eastern time this past Tuesday, Team 125 took off from Anchorage and touched down in Shenzhen shortly after midnight Eastern on Wednesday, April 1. Two hours, 57 minutes later – with just three minutes to spare in the permitted window – 1.2 million units were safely stored under the Patriots' plane, allowing it to depart for Anchorage as scheduled.