If ever there was a time for rotorcraft to prove their worth, it was during these past five weeks assisting in the relief effort for victims of the Southeast Asia tsunami.
According the latest United Nations figures, more than 236,000 people are listed as dead or missing in Indonesia along with another 36,000 dead or missing in Sri Lanka. An additional one million survivors have been displaced as entire towns and villages were washed away by the killer wave. In Indonesia’s hardest hit province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, roads between major population centers are largely impassable and continue to deteriorate while reconstruction crews concentrate on rebuilding washed-out bridges.
Standing water and the destruction of transportation infrastructure in areas hit hardest by the tsunami left survivors in areas accessible only by helicopter, or in some cases, marine craft. The military services of several nations, including Australia, France, Japan, Switzerland and the U.S., moved quickly to aid in the relief efforts with helicopters, ships, landing craft and personnel. At the height of its contribution, the U.S. dedicated as many as 50 Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force helicopters, including 17 from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, 25 from the USS Bonhomme Richard expeditionary strike group and eight land-based rotorcraft. A mix of CH-53 Sea Stallions, CH-46 Sea Knights, MH-60G Pave Hawks, CH-47 Chinooks and other U.S. military aircraft has flown more than 2,800 relief missions and delivered more than 4,000 tons of aid to Aceh province alone, out of more than 11,000 tons of aid moved by U.S. military forces in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and other parts of the region.
