Small Planes Big Jobs

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As a teenager, I was struck by wanderlust, always dreaming of going to Paris and Rome.
But never did I imagine that I would be spending so much of my work life flying in small planes and helicopters over deserts and war zones.
This is an attempt to describe, as vividly as possible, a day in the life of a UN and NGO staff through the lens of something they spend so much of their life on — the small aircraft.
Attempting to land a small plane or helicopter in the middle of a war is the biggest challenge, whether you are in Mogadishu, Somalia or Baghdad, Iraq.
Someone is always trying to shoot down your plane, using a ground-to-air missile or a sniper taking aim from a rooftop.
It does not matter that you are a humanitarian worker trying to do your best given that the shooter’s goal is to create more chaos rather than bring calm.
It is this kind of chaos and fear among the common folk as well as the lawlessness that keep terrorists, drug lords and gangs in control.
On a trip to Baghdad in 2007 to assess the needs of the internally displaced, I had one of the most harrowing episodes of my life.
Ads by KioskedTo get into the city, one would first have to hitch a helicopter ride from a neighbouring country.
I noticed that the doors in the six-seater military helicopter that I took were kept open and gunners were seated on each side, their automatic rifles and spotlights pointing at rooftops as the helicopter made three or four 360-degree rotations to get a full view of who might be aiming a gun at us.
The idea was to dodge the bullets if the shooters on the ground opened fire. And here was I, visiting for just a day while our staff were up again such risks 24/7 just so they could work.
In many remote crisis spots around the world, the UN (usually the World Food Programme) manages these humanitarian flights at no cost to aid workers, journalists and donors.
I remember receiving a call once from New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristoff who was trying to get to Darfur, a region in western Sudan to cover the conflict there.
Our staff on the ground didn’t know who he was and did not prioritise him and his crew so I called my colleagues to explain to them how important it was that the world got to know about the inter-ethnic war (some called it ethnic cleansing) going on in this remote part of the world.
Ads by KioskedThey got Kristoff and his team seats on the plane and he went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Darfur.
Sometimes, the only way to get food to the most remote war-ravaged areas is by dropping it in bags from a small plane. However, this is done only as a last resort because of the high expense and the risk it poses to people on the ground.
Despite the fact that the pilot flies as low as possible at this point to prevent breakage, a 50kg sack of grain descending at high velocity from the sky down to a desperate population rushing out to get the food can be a dangerous undertaking if not done professionally.
Dropping food from airplanes requires painstaking precision. Many factors have to to be accounted for, such as the clearing where the food is to be dropped, the wind speed and other considerations.
Once the needs on the ground have been assessed, we need to ensure that our staff remain to mark the spot where the food is to be dropped. This can be done through radio communication with the plane.
Our staff would then ensure that the food is to be distributed fairly and equitably. Obviously one does not just drop off the food and leave.
Ads by KioskedOn another occasion, in 2005, I took a private sector donor to show her the food drop operation over South Sudan.
The aircraft did not have seats so we were strapped to the side to prevent us from falling through the belly of the plane when it opened up.
When we approached the clearing, the floor under our feet slid apart, and the sacks of food dropped down a short trolley midair, one after the other.
Our donor was exhilarated and impressed beyond words.
Of course that kept the donations coming in. - FMT
Ads by KioskedThe views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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