Aircrew from 107th and 914th Airlift Wings Return from Flying Haiti Relief Missions

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C-130 From Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station

NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE , NY (01/21/2010)(readMedia)-- Members of the New York Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve who have been flying relief missions into and out of Haiti will return to Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station Thursday afternoon and will be available for media interviews.

WHO: Eight members of the New York Air National Guard's 107th Airlift Wing and eight members of the Air Force Reserve's 914th Airlift Wing.

WHAT: Rotating back from missions in support of Operation Unified Response, the United States military effort to assist the people of Haiti. The aircraft carrying the original crews are expected to return at approximately 2 p.m. Media are invited to collect imagery of the return and interview the aircrew members.

WHEN: 1 p.m.,Thursday, Jan. 21, 2009.

WHERE: Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, 2020 Lockport Road, Niagara Falls, NY 14304

Members of the media should plan on being at the Lockport Road gate to Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station no later than 1 p.m. today in order to participate in this interview opportunity and to obtain imagery of the aircraft landing.

BACKGROUND:

Mission in support of Operation Unified Response:

Crewed by 16 members of the 914th Airlift Wing, Air Force Reserve, and the 107th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Guard, twoC-130H cargo aircraft, call signs Fuzzy 90 and Bison 91, departed for Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 16. Since then they have been involved in daily missions shuttling supplies into Port-au-Prince in support of the Haiti relief effort.

In order to keep the crews at peak efficiency new aircrew have been rotated in. A C-130 with 16 replacement crew members is expected to leave Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station at 10 a.m. this morning for Pope Air Force Base and return at approximately 2 p.m. with the crew members who departed on Saturday. The Airmen transported to Pope Air Force Base will sit on alert waiting for missions until relieved by other crews or the mission ends.

The C-130 Hercules:

The C-130 Hercules is the United States Air Force's standard intra-theater cargo aircraft and is used heavily by air forces around the world. It is capable of getting into and out of short and unimproved runways.

The C-130, powered by four turboprop engines is normally operated by a crew of five or six, a pilot and co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer, and one or two loadmasters in the back. The version flown by the 107th Airlift Wing has a top speed of 366 miles per hour and a range of about 2,000 miles with a payload of around 35,000 pounds.

The aircraft can carry up to 92 people or six pallets of cargo depending on the configuration and load and unload through a ramp at the rear of the aircraft.

The 107th Airlift Wing and 914th Airlift Wing:

The 107th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard operates C-103H transport aircraft in association with the 914th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve. . The two wings jointly crew and maintain the aircraft in an Air Force Reserve Component Partnership. Prior to transitioning to an airlift wing in 2008 the 107th flew KC-135 air-to-air refueling tanker aircraft, and prior to that had flown fighter aircraft.

The 914th Airlift Wing was organized in 1963 as the 914th Troop Carrier Group of the Air Force Reserve flying troop transport Aircraft. It was designated a Wing in 1994.

The 914th is a strictly federal reserve element that performs missions at the direction of the President of the United States. The 107th as an element of the Air National Guard, can send members to conduct state emergency support missions and disaster relief at the direction of the Governor of New York.