PAKISTAN MERCY OP

RAF Hercules fly in as flood death toll rises
06 September 2010
RAF crews have launched a mercy mission to Pakistan delivering life-saving aid as the death toll following the worst floods in the country’s history continues to rise.
Millions of people have been left homeless and more than 1600 have
died as flood water devastated huge areas of the country.
As international aid agencies struggle to cope with the aftermath of
the disaster, crews from RAF Brize Norton and RAF Lyneham are
boosting the UN aid effort by flying in vital medical supplies and
equipment.
The RAF was called in to spearhead the UK’s aid effort after the UN
issued an international appeal for support.
A C17 Globemaster loaded with more than 500 tents, food and essential medical supplies flew to the Pakistan capital Islamabad , last month.
As conditions at refugee camps continue to worsen, RAF teams at Brize Norton have mounted two further aid missions using C130Js, flying from the Oxfordshire station to Dubai where the Air Mobility Wing organised the transfer supplies to Pakistan.
Among the aid flown to the flood-ravaged southern area of the country was a consignment of 16,000 plastic sheets to provide makeshift shelter for thousands of displaced families forced to flee their homes as flood water destroyed their villages.
Cpl Kevin Speight, working with RAF Lyneham’s Air Mobility Wing in Pakistan, described the scenes of chaos that greeted the RAF crews as they fought to transfer the urgent supplies.
He said: “There wasn’t much ground handling equipment - just a set of fork-lifts.
“The Pakistan personnel on the ground didn’t know the hand signals for marshalling or our tried and tested way of doing things so our challenge was to show them how to do it.
“There was a massive crowd of local labour that turned out to assist so it was very difficult to co-ordinate what was going on.
“It was a case of kicking the load off the back, picking up the empty pallets and getting going. Everything went pretty smoothly considering what we were facing.”
Flying a fully laden Hercules, pilot Flt Lt Chris Jones described the operation.
He said: “We were close to our maximum take off weight - we could have carried more, but that would mean offsetting the fuel we carried. Islamabad is four-and-a-half hours flying time from Dubai so we would have struggled to carry more.
“Islamabad is an international airport, but the approach can be difficult and it is surrounded by mountainous terrain. As we were landing with a heavy load it gave us a bit more to think about.
“As you would expect the facilities on the ground were good so thankfully there were no major dramas on the ground.”
RAF pilot Flt Lt Phil O’Brien added: “The country has been devastated by disaster and they are fighting to stabilise the situation.
“Families have lost their homes and are now living under sheets of plastic but that is going to give them the stability they need to make a fresh start at rebuilding their lives.
“Our job is to fly equipment from one place to another and as with all the tasks we undertake the planning was meticulous.
“However, we have to make sure everything is right when it is a humanitarian mission of such magnitude.
“The Herc is a fantastic aircraft that does exactly what it says on the tin. We would struggle to fight a war or mount this kind of international operation