DART going to Nepal, 2015

[sidemount]

I suspect DART will go in a bit as it really seems to focus on the "post-rescue stage" and more on the "immediate reestablishment of basic services"

Agreed

But like what Mike had said, unless the host nation asks, we aren't going to go. I would hope that they take all the help that is offered to them.

 

[PMedMoe]

According to this article, some DART members are already on the ground: Canadian military plane arrives in Nepal: officials

"The Canadian Joint Operations Command said on Twitter that 31 Armed Forces members had arrived in the earthquake-hit country."

"A second C-17 has left Canada carrying more equipment and people and is expected to be in Nepal on Thursday"



And, according to the first article posted in this thread:

"Troops who conduct urban search and rescue and medical personnel departed aboard one of the air force’s massive C-17 transports"

"Separately, a smaller team of soldiers and civilians will evaluate how Canada can best assist both in the short and medium-term amid the devastation."

"Lauren Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Defence Minister Jason Kenney, says the rescuers and medics are being sent abroad even before the evaluation is conducted because there are some aspects that are already clear."

 

[tomahawk6]

The US DART team arrived with search dogs.

http://dogtime.com/12-canines-from-the-disaster-assistance-response-team-dart-have-arrived-in-nepal.html

 

[McG]

The first C17 flight has now extracted 100 Canadians and other foreign citizens.
The DARTS first task will apparently be clearing a route north from the city ... I hope they brought some heavy equipment on that first flight in.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nepal-earthquake-c-17-transport-plane-used-to-get-people-out-of-kathmandu-1.3053502

 

[Nfld Sapper]

The first C17 flight has now extracted 100 Canadians and other foreign citizens.
The DARTS first task will apparently be clearing a route north from the city ... I hope they brought some heavy equipment on that first flight in.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/nepal-earthquake-c-17-transport-plane-used-to-get-people-out-of-kathmandu-1.3053502

MCG from what I have seen no, that equipment is still in Trenton...

 

[jmt18325]

How does the ISST generally get to the location of the disaster?  I never see anything about that in the news releases, just that they have departed and arrived.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

ISST?

 

[jmt18325]

ISST?

The Interdepartmental Strategic Support Team.  They arrived in Nepal on the 28th, the day before the first elements of DART:

http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/operations-abroad/nepal.page

 

[cupper]

News reports are saying that the Nepalese government has closed the airport at Katmandu to heavy lift aircraft due to potential damage to the runway. They are limiting to medium and light aircraft only until they can assess the conditions of the runway foundation and subgrade after the multiple tremors and aftershocks.

Nepal quake: Airport issues ban on larger planes

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32572533

Nepal's only international airport has banned larger aircraft carrying aid from landing because of concerns over its runway.

Planes heavier than 196 tonnes had been allowed to land after last week's earthquake but restrictions have been imposed because of potholes on the runway, officials say.

A government spokesman said the move would not affect aid efforts.

More than 7,000 people died in the magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

The chief of Nepal's civil aviation authority, Mahendra Singh Rawal, told the BBC that there were no restrictions on medium-sized and smaller aircraft, and that the ban would be lifted after maintenance work to the runway.

Also on Sunday, the United Nations said that the problem of customs controls holding up aid deliveries from the airport was "diminishing".

"The government has taken note of some of the concerns that we've expressed to them and they've addressed those," said Jamie McGoldrick, who is co-ordinating the UN relief effort in Kathmandu.

At least 7,040 people are now known to have been killed in the quake which struck near Kathmandu, Nepalese officials say. More than 14,021 people were injured.

The death toll could go up, as search and rescue efforts continuing in several hill districts including Dhading, Rasuwa and Sindhupalchok, the government has said.

Landslides and poor weather have hampered efforts to deliver aid to isolated districts.

In the Sindhupalchok, which lies north of the capital Kathmandu, 95% of the houses were destroyed, chief district officer Himnath Dawadi told BBC Nepali.

While the vast majority of casualties were in Nepal, about 100 people are reported to have died in neighbouring India, China and Bangladesh.

On Sunday, Nepali police released a list of foreigners who had been killed or wounded. The largest group of nationals affected is Indians, with 39 known to have died and 10 wounded.

The EU envoy to Nepal, Rensje Teerink, said on Friday that the whereabouts of 1,000 EU citizens was still unknown.

 

[George Wallace]

News reports are saying that the Nepalese government has closed the airport at Katmandu to heavy lift aircraft due to potential damage to the runway. They are limiting to medium and light aircraft only until they can assess the conditions of the runway foundation and subgrade after the multiple tremors and aftershocks.

I heard that the Airport was closed due to damage done to a runway build to handle only light and medium aircraft, not the HEAVY military  aircraft that have been bringing in relief supplies.  Looks like, when is all is said and done with, the Katmandu airport runways will be seeing a major upgrade to handle larger aircraft.  This closure will greatly restrict the amount of aid getting in and people getting out. 

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Now the C-17 Empty weight: 282,500 lb (128,100 kg) and has a max Payload: 170,900 lb (77,519 kg) of cargo distributed at max over 18 463L master pallets or a mix of palletized cargo and vehicles

Assuming they don't go with max payload this aircraft is just below the 196 tonnes limit imposed by the Nepalis government.

Where tonnes here means metric tonnes which is approximately 2,204.6 pounds, 1.10 tons (US) or 0.984 tons (imperial)

 

[SupersonicMax]

You are forgetting fuel weight...

 

[Nfld Sapper]

You are forgetting fuel weight...

Right with max fuel load of 134,556 L it will be too heavy ...... guess they will have to ferry in hercs for DART then....

 

[bradley247]

Without going into specifics, the C-17s aren't carrying max fuel nor max cargo. They only need enough gas to get there and then back to India (only a few hours of flying, plus reserves) and their payload is limited by how much gas they needed for the long legs there. Still a bit over the current limit, but nothing that bumping a few pallets couldn't fix.

 

[captloadie]

So I see the tail is wagging the dog again. It used to be that you planned your fuel stops based on the amount of cargo you were carrying, not the other way around. Then again, those might have been the days when we could afford to have more than 1 slip crew prepositioned somewhere.

 

[McG]

Welcome home DART!

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/dart-returning-to-canada-today-after-month-in-nepal-1.2399492