U.S. Air Force Reopens Haitian Airport

[undeterred]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The key elements of the U.S. relief effort began to arrive in Haiti on Friday, as the U.S. Air Force started to bring order to the chaotic Port-au-Prince airport and the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson took up position off the coast of the earthquake-ravaged nation.

Earlier, authorities had been forced to turn away aid flights when the large influx of aircraft overwhelmed the facility's small tarmac. But by daybreak, a 115-person Air Force team, which flew in five C-17 cargo planes of communications and air-traffic management equipment overnight, had undone most of the logjam. A steady stream of flights arrived and departed without difficulty even during the pre-dawn hours, the first time the airport was able to accept nighttime flights since the quake.

The Vinson, a nuclear-powered ship with a crew of more than 3,000, is the largest American vessel to reach Haiti since a powerful earthquake Tuesday killed thousands of people and destroyed large swaths of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. Water and other badly needed supplies were beginning to be flown in from the ship by Friday morning.

Coast Guard personnel have been in Haiti since early Wednesday morning, and the Air Force has begun flying in hundreds of its own troops as well. The USS Bataan, an amphibious ship carrying 2,200 Marines, is slated to arrive off the coast of Haiti next week alongside the USNS Comfort, the military's largest medical ship. All told, defense officials expect more than 8,000 American troops to be in Haiti by next weekend.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575004913901168380.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews

This makes me proud of our military. :patriot:

[pinto]

1. Kick.

Good news.

[gateley]

2. it must have been an unbelievable undertaking. Heartfelt gratitude to USAF! nt

[Gregorian]

3. Bravo! A military operation I can gladly get behind.

[undeterred]

4. Chaos at Port-au-Prince airport slows Haiti emergency aid efforts

By Mary Beth Sheridan and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 15, 2010; 2:31 PM

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Despite urgent needs following Tuesday's earthquake, emergency aid for Haiti is being slowed by chaos at the Port-au-Prince airport, where planes are clogging all available space, unloading equipment is scarce and fuel for departing aircraft is unavailable, officials said Friday.

After suspending U.S. flights to Haiti for several hours Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration declared another "ground stop" Friday at the Port-au-Prince airport, citing "airport saturation." The agency said Haitian authorities "are not accepting any aircraft into their airspace" for the time being. It said there was "no available ramp space" and that planes trying to land could expect to remain in holding patterns for more than an hour.

"Aircraft operators are also reminded that there is no available fuel at the airport," the FAA said in a bulletin. "The airport is actually overwhelmed by aid," said Hans van de Vens, a Dutch search-and-rescue official. He was hoping to meet a Dutch team that had been denied permission to land at the congested facility the day before.

Aid and military officials said the situation at the airport has improved since Thursday, when planes would show up unannounced, preventing other scheduled flights from landing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011500362.html

No easy task to coordinate all this.