aspect about the latest efforts
there was figuring out when to
send the team in, according to
Hemy. “We’re trying to pick the
spot so that you arrive just in
time to get the relief aid.”
Local authorities tend to
be consumed with search and
rescue activities shortly after a
natural disaster so relief is not
their highest priority, Hemy
said. This creates a situation where
“there’s a lot of activity in a short time.
So it’s a timing issue that becomes the
biggest challenge.”
For a lot of local authorities, the
challenge is getting their heads around
the entire process, according to Hemy
who notes that in the Philippines,
“have a very good natural disaster
structure.”
But while some capital cities have
a good network it can be difficult to
get help to the provinces. Said Hemy:
“They might have the best people and
national capability, it’s just a question
of getting the aid to the provinces.”
A challenge in the Indonesian relief
effort has been distributing aid beyond
Padang because of poor infrastructure
and resources as well as communications difficulties, say industry officials.
To help mitigate this, the Maximus
mission was to bring relief goods and
escorts direct to the final location.
“We have flight coordinators
and loadmasters who ensure timely
preparation at origin of the goods
to be shipped for transport and also
make arrangements for speedy loading
and unloading of the goods we carry.
These very often comprise of outsized
equipments that need special tools and
support at both ends,” Buhazza said.
The scale of the recent operation
made it “one of the UAE’s largest
international relief aid search and
rescue missions to date,” according to
Buhazza. Besides the initial Maximus
flight carrying the UAE search and rescue team, another 55 police search and
rescue experts traveled on commercial
airlines to meet the group deployed to
Padang.
Maximus officials were in direct
contact with a number of relief agen-
cies and “are closely monitoring the
situation in Indonesia. So, if another
situation calls for our involvement, we
are ready to deliver,” Buhazza said.
Also responding to the recent
disasters with relief flights was
Anchorage-based Lynden Air Cargo,
which positioned an L100-30 Hercules
aircraft in Australia and another in
Singapore to fly relief supplies into the
disaster areas. It flew water, blankets,
beds and other emergency supplies
into Apia, Samoa and Padang.
“We will continue to provide relief flights as required
to assist in the recovery efforts. Our aircraft are ideally
suited for this work and our
crews and support personnel
are rapidly responding to
bring aid to those in need,”
said Judy McKenzie, presi-
dent of Lynden Air Cargo.
At press time, UPS was
“working another” shipment to the
Philippines, said Jackie Blair, a UPS
public relations supervisor. The ship-
ments generally include personal
hygiene kits, medicines, clothing, food,
blankets and related items, she said.
The UPS shipments were on behalf
of Americares and the Philippine
Consulate General and are not charter
aircraft but rather positions on sched-
uled flights, the company said.
UPS also planned to send goods
either via charter, a repositioned UPS
aircraft or by ocean, on behalf of the
“By helping WFP ensure food
supplies reach people affected
by these natural disasters
as quickly as possible, these
companies are playing a lead
role in helping save lives.”
