March C-17 completes five day airlift mission in support of Operation UNIFIED RESPONSE

  • Published
  • By Capt. Ashley Norris
  • 452nd Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. --  A crew of nine Airmen from the 729th Airlift Squadron at March Air Reserve Base returned to their home yesterday after flying humanitarian missions to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for the past five days. The crew, named Reach 240A, took 171,400 pounds of cargo and 25 Army and Air Force service members into Haiti and 263 evacuees and aid workers out in a C-17 Globemaster III.

March has sent six missions and 40 Airmen to help move cargo into and evacuees out of Haiti since Jan. 15 as part of Operation UNIFIED RESPONSE. They have evacuated over 900 American citizens and legal aliens back into the U.S. and flown in over 1.5 million pounds of much-needed equipment and supplies to Haiti, following the 7.0 earthquake which struck there Jan. 12.

The crew of Reach 240A was put on alert early in the morning Jan. 26 and left the next day with seven media in tow to document the mission.

The crew consisted of three pilots, two loadmasters, and two aircraft mechanics. There were also two Security Forces Ravens (the Air Force equivalent of Sky Marshalls) on board to provide security for the plane and crew.

The crew flew to Louisville, Ky., and picked up several Army vehicles, a pallet of supplies and 15 soldiers from Fort Knox, Ky. The midnight landing at Port-au-Prince was smooth, and the aerial porters were able to unload the cargo bay on a quiet, uncrowded ramp. Before take-off, the aerial porters loaded eight aid workers who were headed back to the U.S. after a week of working in Haiti.

The sun rose as the C-17 was backing up to prepare for taxi and take-off, revealing a mountain range and, right off the runway, a city of humanitarian aid, consisting of pallets, vehicles, planes, helicopters and tents.

After flying and traveling for over 42 hours, the crew landed at Orlando Sanford International Airport, Fla., on Jan. 28 at 8:30 a.m. Agents from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol boarded the plane to process the passengers and embedded media while the crew went through their final checklists to shut down the plane. The crew members then took a well-deserved 14-hour crew rest and waited to hear the details of the next mission.

Reach 240A left Orlando, Fla., for Pope Air Force Base, N.C., on Jan. 29 at 3 a.m., to pick up 41,000 pounds of cargo packed onto 16 pallets. The pallets contained insect nets, tents, office supplies and 10 decontamination units which had been partially converted into showers. Two Soldiers, who were trained on how to complete the shower conversion, joined the crew for the three and a half hour flight to Port-au-Prince.

Ramp space at Port-au-Prince is at a premium, so there is a 40-minute window for each airplane to arrive. But problems on the ground with cargo or passengers can easily bottleneck and cause mid-air delays. The March C-17 experienced a 20-minute delay. After touchdown, the cause of the delay was clear.

Unlike the previous, quiet, mid-night landing, the runway, during the daytime, was a beehive of activity. Civilian and military helicopters were taking off every 5-10 minutes in the area between the runway and the ramp. Cars, golf-carts, bicycles and vehicles of every sort were moving cargo and people in every direction despite the hot, humid breezes that were occasionally punctuated by stronger, hotter gusts of jet exhaust.

Outside the Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport terminal, U.S. Customs and Border patrol screened passengers while Haitians stood outside the cordon hoping to find a job. Aid workers carried orphans through the screening area, trying to get them out of Haiti.

Some members of the C-17 crew and the embedded media had the opportunity to view the interior of the airport. Built with concrete blocks and plaster, there were big cracks everywhere. Some of the ceiling tiles had fallen, glass doors were streaked with cracks and there was standing water in the baggage claim area. The control tower was slightly askew and all the windows had shattered, and, as a result, the airfield operations team, busy giving permission for landings and take-offs, was working from a fold-out table.

At the C-17, the first of the 176 evacuees were lined up, waiting to board the plane, many of them exhausted and dehydrated from the heat. The crew of the C-17 helped elderly and injured passengers into seats on the sides of the aircraft. The remaining passengers sat on the floor of the aircraft, eight to a row. In this floor-loading configuration, each row of passengers sits below a long cargo strap that serves as a seat belt.

"None of us had ever floor-loaded anybody before," said Lt. Col. Jim Daronco, the mission commander. "Everybody did such a great job."

The C-17 was filled to capacity with aid workers headed home, Haitians with U.S. passports or visas and their children. Some of the passengers had never before flown. When the plane touched down at the Orlando Sanford International Airport an hour and a half later, the passengers cheered.

Following the stop in Orlando, the crew flew up to Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., for a 38- hour crew rest and left Sunday at 11 a.m. for Warner-Robins Air Force Base, Ga. to pick up 60,000 pounds of cargo: two fuel trucks and five pallets. The pallets were traveling with eight Airmen from the 53rd Combat Communications Squadron, who would be setting up communication equipment in Haiti.

The third flight to Port-au-Prince was smooth, with a quick offload as the sun was setting. Cynthia and Fabiols Fils, sisters from New Jersey, were among the 79 passengers that boarded the plane for the flight back to Orlando. They had been in Haiti for a week trying to help their sister and their mother get to the U.S. Unfortunately, they had to leave without them.

"We've been helping people from our block," said Fabiols. "The situation is unbelievable: no homes, no food." She said no aid workers had stopped by the area yet, but that, "You would be surprised at how many people are helping each other."

Senior Airman Rahman Badarane, an aerial porter from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, who had been in Haiti for 10 days, was also on the flight from Haiti to Orlando. Airman Badarane, who said he'd had just two showers since arriving in Haiti, observed the airport was running with much less chaos than when he first arrived when there didn't seem to be enough people, trucks, or supplies.

Another passenger was Marine Corps Maj. Wendy Garrity, the Cyber Services Division Chief for the Southern Command Communication Chief. Her team had been in Haiti, assessing how to expand the communication capability for the military through commercial vendors and in the process put some money back into the Haitian economy. That morning she had seen countless people dressed up in their Sunday-best, going to church despite their grave challenges. "They're so resilient," said Maj. Garrity.

Reach 240A landed in Orlando at 11:11 p.m. and unloaded the passengers. The crew quickly prepared for the flight back to March and took-off at 12:17 a.m.

After a 21-hour day, they landed at March at 2 a.m. Members of the crew were overwhelmed by what they saw, accomplished and were glad to have helped.

Tech. Sgt. Levon Barney said, "I'm glad that I was a part of it and that the training I've received made my contribution a part of something that was bigger than me." Sergeant Barney said that he would do missions like the Haiti mission every day if he could.

Staff Sgt. Julio Sandoval, an Air Force Raven said, "It was an amazing mission."

Capt. Charles Conder, one of the pilots for the mission, said, "I think we're all honored to have been a part of Operation UNIFIED RESPONSE."