Aircrew saves life of a Christmas Island resident

An aircrew from the 15th Airlift Squadron was credited with saving the life of a Christmas Island resident after being diverted from a mission to bring home the remains of U.S. service members killed in action in Vietnam.

The unusual mission took place last January when aircrew members Maj Tim Harris, Capt Flip Wilson, Capt Joe Govolach, MSgt Bill Couture and SSgt Brian McGriff were called on the radio while on the ground at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. They had just started their engines for the historic flight to Thailand, then into Hanoi to bring back the service members remains.

We got a call on the radio to shut down our engines and return back to re-file our flight plan. "There was a change," said Maj Tim Harris, 15th AS Assistant Deputy of Operations and Aircraft Commander for the mission.

"It was then we were told by the Tanker Airlift Control Center we were going to Christmas Island in the South Pacific to save an individual who was seriously ill."

The TACC received an urgent request, a genuine life or death situation, from the U. S. Transportation Command stating that the U. S. State Department needed the first available aircraft to pick up this very seriously ill person.

Christmas Island, also known as Kiribati, is located about 1,200 miles from the Hawaiian Islands, about halfway between the Hawaiian Islands and Australia.

The short 6,800 foot runway on this island had limited navigational aides and did not have enough available fuel to accommodate a C-5.

"Since we had to bring in our own fuel, we had to exceed the runway's published limits on landing weight. Because of the limited navigational aides, we were restricted to daytime visual flight rules which meant we could only land during daylight hours when we could see the runway."

The aircrew spent several hours working with the TACO to get a runway weight bearing the capacity waiver from the Christmas island airfield manager, checking weather, passing take-off times to the medical team at Hickam, coordinating flight plans and diplomatic clearances, working new times for the interrupted mission, and dealing with an understandably upset user who had their mission postponed at the last minute.

"We were picked to fly this mission because we were in the right place at the right time and of course, the C- I Ts unique capabilities," said Harris.

"We had limited information about Christmas Island and nothing in our hands authorized us to exceed the landing weight limits, but it all came together. We were able to launch at 3:30 a.m., having us arrive at sunrise at Christmas Island," said Harris of the 3-hour flight.

"We knew so little about the island that we went on the Internet and looked it up." We found some images of nuclear explosions - the island had once been used for those types of tests a long time ago. When we landed at Christmas Island it was not much more than a Quonset hut with a runway next to it," Harris said of the first landing of a C-17. The austere runway's edges were full of FOD and potholes.

"When we arrived in the area, we flew around the island and then landed. The islanders had never seen such a big plane on the runway and they started to appear on bicycles while we had the engines running, the cargo bay door open and no ambulance in sight yet. The medical team and the crew were out asking everyone where the ambulance was since we had no communications capabilities with them. Eventually, they showed up with their sirens and lights on."

"When we arrived, we had to look for the ambulance which was basically a converted van with some red lights on top. They showed up about 15 minutes after we landed, which explains the 35 minutes we spent on the ground," said MSgt William Couture. 15th AS loadmaster superintendent.

Couture said, "The runway looked like hell, We had two crew chiefs along with us and used them as wing walkers when we had to back the aircraft up the entire length of the runway to take-off. It took some time to back up since we had to direct the pilots to steer around the potholes."

The flight was further complicated somewhat because the four-person aeromedical crew from Hickam was not qualified in the C-17. The aircrew had to do quite a bit of on-the-job training.

"We had to explain how to hook up the stations. oxygen, and train them on emergency procedures," Couture said.

"The C-17 was unique for this mission because of its austere landing abilities, faster flying times, and our ability to keep the cabin at a comfortable temperature and altitude. These were all important factors for the aeromedical evacuation mission. I used to (do these types of missions) with the C-141 s. but I don't believe any other aircraft could have done this mission in the manner we did it ..it was really the only aircraft for the mission."

The flight back to Hawaii had to have a cabin pressure of about sea level because of the patient's serious condition.

"The net effect of keeping the cabin pressurized at a comfortable level like this was that we had to fly a little lower and faster and bum a little bit more gas. The more comfortable cabin pressure made it easier for the medical folks to provide medication to the patient," Harris said.

He added that the C-17s are being tasked more often for these types of missions.

"The flight surgeon and medical personnel were worried when the patient first arrived because his condition was very iffy, but he was quickly stabilized," Couture said.

"They kept commenting on the better lighting, oxygen hookups and power connections. Everything fit just perfectly for them. They were very impressed."

The aeromedical evacuation came together and the AMC delivered the patient for care at Honoluluis Queens Hospital. less than 14 hours after initial notification.

"We could have gotten there earlier, but had to wait until daylight hours because of no lighting at the airfield," Harris said.

By Lt Col Ed Memi 437 Public Affairs Officer Charleston AFB, S. C.

Copyright Superintendent of Documents, Military Airlift Command Nov/Dec 2000
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