Choppers from heaven
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An
Australian Army UH-1H helicopter, from A Squadron 5th Aviation
Regiment in Oakey, Queensland, departs on an aid-carrying sortie
from Banda Aceh Airport to the devastated west coast of the Indonesian
province of Aceh. To the right of the picture can be seen a Bell
212 helicopter of the British Army Air Corps, which is also assisting
in the movement of aid in the region.
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Captain
Adam Zahra is a Troop Commander from A Squadron, 5th Aviation
Regiment, based in Oakey, Queensland. Within days of being recalled
to his unit he found himself flying aid missions to the devastated
west coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh.
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A
barge and its attending tugboat sit astride the main road that
leads along the west coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh.
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The
west coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh has been devastated
by the Boxing Day tsunami. Complete villages have been wiped off
the face of the earth, the coastline has been radically altered
and rice paddies are choked with mud and debris.
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The
western coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh has been devastated
by the Boxing Day tsunami. Complete villages have been wiped off
the face of the earth, the coastline has been radically altered
and rice paddies are choked with mud and debris.
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Corporal
David Meehan passes a box of bottled water to an Indonesian boy
at an aid distribution point at the town of Lhoong, located on
the western coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh.
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A
UH-1H Iroquois helicopter from A Squadron, 5th Aviation Regiment
flies over the western coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh,
which was devastated by the Boxing Day tsunami. Complete villages
have been wiped off the face of the earth, the coastline has been
radically altered and rice paddies are choked with mud and debris.
In the doorway of the aircraft can be seen loadmaster Corporal
David Meehan (in camouflage uniform).
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By
Corporal Cameron Jamieson - filed 03 February
2005
On
the west coast of Aceh the Boxing Day tsunami has cut the main road
in many places.
At
one point there is a mammoth ocean-going barge and its attending tug
sitting astride the road, dumped there by the force of the angry waves
that demolished the coastline.
In
another part a multi-span road bridge now empties into the sea - the
land that was on the other side simply no longer exists.
The
situation called for helicopters - lots of them - to move aid to the
isolated survivors along the coast, and it was into this nightmare of
destruction that the Iroquois crews from A Squadron 5 Aviation Regiment
have flown.
The
Officer Commanding A Squadron, Major James Brown, explained that the
four UH-1H "Huey" Iroquois helicopters under his command were selected
for the mission because their characteristics best suited the immediate
circumstances.
"There
was a heavy option of sending Chinooks, there was the option of sending
Black Hawks but the Huey was certainly going to be the quickest off
the mark to deploy because of their size and ease of transport, and
we were very concerned about the risk to the survivors from the downwash
of the rotors.
"The
footprint in terms of the downwash from the Huey is much less than a
Black Hawk or a Chinook, so it was decided to send the Hueys."
When
the order came to deploy, the soldiers of A Squadron moved like wildfire.
Recalled
on New Years Eve, they reported to work the next day and departed with
three Iroquois helicopters the following morning on a chartered Antonov
transport aircraft.
Arriving
at Medan in the province of Northern Sumatra, the helicopters were soon
prepared for the epic 500 km flight to Banda Aceh.
A
fourth aircraft soon followed, and the 40 personnel of A Squadron found
themselves in the thick of the disaster relief effort.
Captain
Adam Zahra, a pilot from the squadron who has been flying aid missions
constantly since he arrived in Banda Aceh, was unprepared for the reality
of what he first saw.
"It
was pretty horrendous when we first got here - you'd see large areas,
about 10 by 15 kilometres, that looked like mud flats, but you'd notice
a mosque in the middle of it, and you knew a whole town had been there
but now it's gone.
"We
were bringing back a lot of aeromedical evacuations, but that has tapered
off, and what we are seeing now is an influx of internally displaced
people, and we're bringing them back from the different landing zones."
Capt
Dave Marko, currently working as the squadron operations officer, said
the tempo at the start was quite high because of the volume of initial
aid that needed to be moved, but this had since slowed to a sustainment
rate.
"When
we started we were flying with two aircraft per day each doing around
eight hours of flying, but that has now dropped to about six hours per
day.
"We
are continuing to provide food, water, medicine, relief stores and personnel
out to the maximum radius of the aircraft - around 90 miles.
"We
are working hand-in-hand with the Indonesians, keeping in line with
their priorities and what they determine are their biggest needs.
"We
understand that it is their country and that the whole strategy for
the operation is their responsibility.
"We
are happy to work in with them in any way they see fit."
Loadmaster
Corporal David Meehan is a father of three boys and it means a lot to
him to see the aid getting through to the Indonesian children.
He
often sees the happiness in the faces of the children when the Iroquois
drop by with aid.
"I
saw one little kid the other day at Lhoong, he was about three years
old and was standing there with his brother," he said.
"He
was waiving the whole time we were sitting on the ground as we waited
for another patient to be brought out.
"So
I walked out to shake his hand - he was a bit taken aback at first until
he realised what I was doing.
"I
shook his hand and rubbed his head, and he was like the king of the
flies for a bit - all the other kids were excited that he had got to
meet one of us."
Major
Brown is also pleased with the work of the Australian aviators.
"The
guys believe in the job they are doing, and they are doing a very good
job," he said.
"The
contribution we are making with our four aircraft is not large compared
to the 25 aircraft of the US Navy, or the Mi-8 helicopters that carry
three times as much as we do per lift.
"However,
the aircrew, ground crew and our mechanical and electrical engineers
(RAEME) are very focused on delivering the aid, and it makes us feel
very satisfied at the end of each day that we have sent out another
10,000 lb of aid."
