South Asia and Beyond

‘Planning, Practise Pivotal For IAF Wuhan Evacuation’

NEW DELHI: Group Captain AK Patnaik details the Indian Air Force evacuation of 112 passengers ( 76 Indians and 36 foreign citizens) from the-then-epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic Wuhan, and the transport of 15 tonnes of medical supplies to China. The Flight Commander, 81 Squadron (Skylords) in this chat with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P.Revi takes us through the mission, the planning with multiple ministries and organisations, the goal, and the flawless execution of the mission on February 26, 2020. He outlines the duty cycle of 25+ hours which is even above emergency cycles, the logistics, how they operated with bio-hazard kits on, even offloading supplies and how they changed the C-17 Globemaster’s configuration for the flight back home. With all the precautions taken, there was no spread of the virus to any crew member. In the second of the series- Enemy Inside The Gates: India’s Military Virus Warriors, Group Captain Patnaik says, “the smiles of the passengers, especially small kids, is all the reward that’s needed.”

Nitin A Gokhale WhatsApp Channel

Group Captain AK Patnaik has been flying the C17 Globemaster for seven years. He has a combined flying experience of 5500 hours and has participated in various HADR missions flying Globemaster.

Amitabh P. Revi

Russian language speaker and conflict journalist. Amitabh Revi has been there, done that—from the battlefields of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to sublime Russia, Australia and the United States. Along the way he's picked up the Dag Hammarskjöld Distinguished Journalist Fellowship, the Ramnath Goenka award for coverage of the Iraq War and RT's Khaled Alkhateb Award for his reporting from Palmyra, Syria.

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