|
Main Content here
 Days
after the sustained eruption of the Pacaya volcano and
hours after Guatemala's La Aurora International airport
was reopened; relief was on its way to the people.
The Pacaya volcano is always active, smoldering sleepily
the majority of the time. But on May 27, in the
early morning hours the volcano awoke with a vengeance.
 There
was an explosion, lava and ash began to descend on the
villages and municipalities near the base of the
volcano's cone on all sides. The ash is very different
than one would expect. Volcanic ash is not the fluffy
floating type that settles lightly and skitters around
at the lightest wind. This stuff is heavy, abrasive,
and drops like a stone.
These photos of Guatemala City show only about a half
of an inch accumulation. the villages at base of Pacaya
received much more. Crops ruined, roads impassable; how
to get food and relief to the people that were isolated
and cut-off?
When the run way was clear enough to allow small
private aircraft (but no commercial airliners), things
started to happen. CONRED, Guatemala disaster
responders, organized an a food-airlift for the hardest
hit areas.
Groups of Guatemalan volunteers and visiting U.S.
teams, were pressed into service. They would load
volunteer aircraft that could transport the relief to
rural distribution areas
Mercy Wings was one of several aircraft to respond to
the need and transported hundreds of pounds of life
sustaining food. As the teams
prepared and staged bags of food, pilots of each
aircraft would determine how much could be transported
in one flight. Careful and precise fuel calculations
had to be made to maximize cargo but still have enough
fuel to return for another flight.
 In
the background, precise fueling is taking place in the
Mercy Wings T206H. The idea is to have enough fuel
to get off the ground, make your destination, and return
to your starting point. And, oh yes, have some
reserve in case you have to go searching for an
alternate route home. Notice the low clouds that
cover the sun; they will also hide mountain and volcano.
Not just the weight of fuel, and cargo is considered
but placement in the aircraft. Ever overloaded a
shopping cart with very heavy items? Notice how
difficult it was to start, stop, and maneuver. Same
thing with an airplane.
 Each
of these bags is 30Lbs of life saving emergency relief;
black bean, rice, oil, and masa (corn meal). There are
days when you just can't predict what you will
encounter. The goal is to do everything in safety; so
that you can serve another day, in another way.
Last thing is to return to home the Mercy Wings base
60NM west.
But........that's another story.
|
