Valley-based air reservists deliver quake aid quickly


January 23, 2010 at 12:01a.m.

The master sergeant said that the relief effort is well

organized and efficient.

STAFF REPORT

Hope for Haiti Now

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Earthquake in Haiti

Crews from the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station returned Friday afternoon from a relief mission to aid earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The station, based in Vienna, has sent three C-130H Hercules tactical cargo aircraft to the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, Master Sgt. Bob Barko said. A fourth aircraft has been activated as well, he said.

On Thursday the airlift wing picked up 18,400 pounds of food and water from the Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida and delivered it at San Isidro Air Base in the Dominican Republic, Barko said.

“It was FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) prepackaged food and two pallets of bottled water,” he said.

The food was unloaded from the aircraft and placed onto flatbed trucks to be delivered to Haiti, he said.

The local airlift wing also delivered aid early Monday when it landed in Port-au-Prince at about 1 a.m., Barko said.

Major Joe George of Pittsburgh and 1st Lt. Steve Stroney of Liberty, pilot and co-pilot of one of the 910th C-130s, respectively, said they were only on the ground in Haiti unloading for about 20 minutes.

Because it was dark, except for the airport, they were unable to see first-hand the devastation caused by the earthquake.

Youngstown crews returned to the Youngstown Air reserve Station at about 4 p.m. Friday Homestead Air Reserve Base, which is outside of Miami, Fla., Barko said.

He said that the relief effort is pretty well-organized and efficient.

“Once the aid hits the ground in the Dominican, as we were standing there they were loading the cargo onto the truck,” he said. “It’s happening in a pretty quick effort.”

On both trips, Barko said that the cargo was delivered and the crew was back in the air in 30 minutes to an hour.

“They have more than we can carry,” he said. “We took as much as we could and there were aircraft right behind us ready to take on more.”

Authorities organizing the relief effort are opening more receiving areas for aircraft, Barko said, making it easier for aid to get into the country, which was hit Jan. 12 with magnitude 7.0 earthquake and several intense aftershocks.

“Port au Prince International can only handle so many aircraft a day,” Barko said. “It stands to reason that it’s just going to get there quicker.”