Jetrader - July/August 2011 - 17

AirLink Responds to Japan Earthquake
ISTAT members work to bring relief to disaster victims
By Ty Prettyman, AirLink Program Director On 11 March 2011, the East Coast of Japan was hit with an 8.9 magnitude earthquake followed by a series of large tsunamis. It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded to have hit Japan and one of the ﬁve most powerful earthquakes in the world since modern recordkeeping began in 1900. By all accounts, this natural disaster has turned out to be one of the worst in the last 100 years. The Japanese National Police Agency has conﬁrmed 14,755 deaths, 5,279 injured and 10,706 people missing across 18 prefectures, as well as more than 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed. AirLink responded immediately to this natural disaster by arranging ﬂights for Non Government Organizations (NGOs) personnel to perform aid distribution to the regions in Japan most affected by the disaster. Three of these missions are discussed in detail here. A Pathﬁnder Task Force (PTF) from The Eagles Wings Foundation ﬂew to Japan from Seattle on 14 March on a fully donated Hawaiian Air ﬂight arranged through AirLink. The six members of PTF arrived in Japan with a deﬁned mission to coordinate with major United States private sector partners developed through Walmart and DHL. The overall objective for this mission was to establish an aid distribution network into more remote overlooked areas in Japan, while using Pathﬁnders Rapid Assessment System to collect needs assessments and ﬁeld situation reports for all Eagles Wings partners (including AirLink). PTF developed detailed deployment plans for mass distribution of aid supplies and arranged the use of 15 tractor trailer trucks to help distribute 25 shipping containers of relief goods, including 300,000 much-needed blankets. Due to concerns about radioactive contamination, PTF later set up a temporary base in Hawaii and continued remote operations there. While in Hawaii, PTF coordinated and facilitated relationship organization charts for partners and worked to deﬁne distribution points by matching needs with distribution capabilities. PTF also developed an in-depth operational risk assessment to help determine conditions for the possible return of the team to Japan. This assessment was aimed at assisting a wide variety of NGOs and private sector partners, many of whom were requesting in-depth summaries for their own safety

Charles McJilton, founder of Second Harvest national food bank in Japan, explains the challenges of transporting supplies to northern Japan. Fuel, roads and radiation are prohibiting normal deliveries.

considerations. Following three days in Hawaii with continual deterioration in the nuclear situation and demonstrated capability in establishing new remote logistics functions, PTF withdrew back to its Florida base to continue its work there. Through AirLink, Hawaiian Air also donated ﬁve roundtrip seats to Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) for a mission to set up aid distribution logistics. On 5 April, the AAI team met with both Hands on Tokyo and Second Hand Harvest in Japan to discuss aid distribution. They also prepared 1,000 pounds of relief supplies that AAI volunteers brought with them on the Hawaiian Air ﬂight for distribution in areas north of Tokyo. On 6 April, the AAI team met with warehouse staff near the Narita airport to inspect the

Airline Ambassadors International met with Hands on Tokyo where they counted, folded and packed supplies for transport to northern Japan.

Jetrader 17

Jetrader - July/August 2011

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