The Air Force Uses its Speed and Reach for the Fifth Consecutive Day in Flood Relief Operations
7:14pm on Tuesday 30th May 2017
Sri Lanka Air Force dispatched its helicopters throughout the day to airlift relief aid as a part of its holistic Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations to assist the national emergency response to the flood affected areas of the country. The Air Force disaster relief and management mechanism, which was initiated on 26th May 2017 under the personal direction of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal KVB Jayampathy, has been conducting airlift, rescue and evacuation missions successfully with continuous situation monitoring and efficient management of air assets.
Today, the Bell 212, Bell 412 and MI 17 helicopters continued their operations and transported more than 39266 cooked meals, 5206 kgs of dry rations, 4037 Ltr of water bottles and copious amounts of medical items and other supplies to the relief centres inBulathsinhala, Bellana, Baddegama and Rathnapura areas. This accounted for a total number of 52 flying sorties with more than 24 hours 15 minutes of flight time on multiple platforms. In addition, the Air Force was able to successfully accomplish the arduous task of delivering relief items to isolated groups, who are unable to again access to the disaster relief camps, in the flood stricken areas.
Moreover, the air warriors continued their HADR operations by evacuating casualties, patients and other persons who were in need of immediate medical assistance to hospitals in safer locations. The overall situation assessment for optimum utilization of resources was obtained through the reconnaissance missions carried out by the Y 12 aircraft over the inundated areas in the Rathnapura, Galle, and Kalutara districts as well.
Today, the Bell 212, Bell 412 and MI 17 helicopters continued their operations and transported more than 39266 cooked meals, 5206 kgs of dry rations, 4037 Ltr of water bottles and copious amounts of medical items and other supplies to the relief centres inBulathsinhala, Bellana, Baddegama and Rathnapura areas. This accounted for a total number of 52 flying sorties with more than 24 hours 15 minutes of flight time on multiple platforms. In addition, the Air Force was able to successfully accomplish the arduous task of delivering relief items to isolated groups, who are unable to again access to the disaster relief camps, in the flood stricken areas.
Moreover, the air warriors continued their HADR operations by evacuating casualties, patients and other persons who were in need of immediate medical assistance to hospitals in safer locations. The overall situation assessment for optimum utilization of resources was obtained through the reconnaissance missions carried out by the Y 12 aircraft over the inundated areas in the Rathnapura, Galle, and Kalutara districts as well.
