C-130H, C-17 crews respond to oil spill

[unhappycamper]

A Florida Air National Guard C-130 flies over sweet crude oil streaks on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, several miles from where the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up and sank off the coast of Louisiana.



C-130H, C-17 crews respond to oil spill
Scott Fontaine - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 7, 2010 18:21:31 EDT

Two C-130H aircraft from Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, equipped to spray dispersal liquid are spearheading the Air Force’s response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Air Force also sent a C-17 Globemaster III to deliver supplies and Coast Guard responders from California to the Gulf Coast.

U.S. Northern Command has designated Keesler Air Force Base outside Biloxi, Miss., as its base for military logistics missions, and the service sent a combat camera team and plans officers to the region.

The response to what President Obama called a “potentially unprecedented environmental disaster” included more than 6,700 government employees and 2,500 volunteers as of May 6. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from a deepwater well polluted the ocean after an April 20 explosion aboard the offshore rig Deepwater Horizon. Eleven people were killed in the blast.

The 910th Airlift Wing at Youngstown sent the two C-130s to the Gulf Coast nine days after the explosion. The wing is the military’s only fixed-wing aerial spray unit, and its C-130s are most often used for insect eradication and vegetation control at bombing ranges. As of May 6, two of its planes were flying daily missions as weather permitted to drop a solution similar to Dawn dishwashing liquid, which helps break up oil.

A C-17 Globemaster III left Travis Air Force Base, Calif., on May 2 to deliver a Coast Guard response team and 17 pallets of equipment, including almost 66,000 feet of inflatable boom and storage bladders. The devices suck the oil from the water and store it inside bladder-like containers. The equipment the airmen transported has the capacity to store 70,000 gallons of oil.



unhappycamper comment: I certainly hope BP gets nailed for the full cost of using these heavy movers including maintenance.