Wednesday, November 16
PAKISTAN: HOT REFUELER FOR QUAKE COPTERS OPENS
| November 16, 2005 U.S. Disaster Assistance Center Pakistan – A U.S. military Rapid Refueling Point at Muzaffarabad Airport opened Nov. 15 allowing relief helicopters to refuel quicker and provide earthquake aid further north in support of Pakistani-led relief efforts. The RRP, part of the U.S. military’s Forward Re-supply Base in Muzaffarabad, saves each aircraft 75 minutes operating time at each refueling due to its location and capability to refuel helicopters while they are still running vice having to shut them down as in Islamabad. The 75 minutes gained by the RRP comes from eliminating the 30 minute flight to Islamabad and an additional 40 minutes saved since helicopters can be fueled in five minutes while running instead of 45 minutes when they have to be shut down. The ability to refuel a helicopter while running is known as hot refueling and is made possible by three 20,000 gallon fuel bladders that are capable of fueling two aircraft simultaneously. The RRP also can refuel helicopters while they are shut down, known as cold refueling, with two 2,200 gallon fuel trucks. The ability to refuel father north allows U.S. helicopters more flight time to deliver aid to those affected by the Oct. 8 earthquake that devastated the Kashmir and Northwest Frontier Provinces in Pakistan. U.S. military helicopters began flying earthquake relief aid on Oct. 11 in support of the Government of Pakistan’s relief operations. They have delivered nearly 7.5 million pounds of relief aid and evacuated more than 3,500 casualties. Weblog LINK |
