We carry mission in poor conditions be it accident rescue, disaster rescue, medical evacuation, supply transportation or personnel transportation and we know that every mission come with its unique risks. However, we believe in “mission well performed and safety first” and hope that every job of the Corps is a “mission for champions.”
Apr 30 2015, the crews of an AS-365 Dolphin, numbered NA-109, and a UH-1H Huey, numbered NA-510, from 2nd Wing of National Airborne Service Corps were carrying out a routing training at usual. It just happened that Star TV was filming a TV program “Mission for Champions” in April and wanted to know what the Corps does. On that day, Commander Lin, Keng-Yu followed the standard operation procedure by briefing the crew for the training mission and safety before the session started. After making sure the contents of training and checking weather report, the crews took to the Dajia River Valley not far away from Dongshi Bridget in Taichung for the training. The training was a typhoon scenario. The water level of Dajia River swelled in minutes and several people were trapped dangerously on a sandbar in the middle of rapid white water. The AS-365 crew started the hoisting on the hovering helicopter. The pilot struggled to keep the helicopter stable in the violently turbulent air in the river valley. There were a few close calls but the crew managed to hoist the passenger on board. On the other side of the valley, a simulated forest fire took place. The UH-1H scooped water to put the fire out. The film production crew was impressed by the realistic exercise and skillful performance of the crew.
Instructor Wu, Kuen-Chuan who participated in this training said that training allows improvement of rescue skills and facilitates the teamwork in the crew when a mission is called for. He remembered the two typhoons in August 8, 2009 and Jun 12, 2012 devastated southern Taiwan. It was difficult to describe what happen to the disaster areas unless you saw it with your own eyes when he flew over these areas. It was all hands on deck for the Corps in these two disasters, but the weathers were not cooperating. As soon as it was relatively safe to fly, everyone started doing what he/she was assigned to do, be it rescue by hoisting or supply transportation. All they could think about was to get people to safety as fast as possible. He knew he has only two hands but he wished he had two more to help as many people as he could. Wu continued that in Jan 2014, there was a premature infant in Kinmen who suffered a respiratory tract infection and other complications and was in need for medical evacuation. It was raining out there, but the crew decided to fly anyway. As they arrived at Kinmen Airport, he felt bad as he saw the anxiety on the face of the infant’s parents and the crying baby in the incubator. He said that he is a father too. Putting oneself in others’ shoes, who wouldn’t want to see his/her children grow up safe, healthy and happy?
Instructor Wu has been working for the Corps for years and spent more than 2 decades flying. Humbly, he said he was honored to do what he us best at in rescuing people. “We are able to do our job facing the challenges in every one of these mission, and we see why we exist as we do our parts for this society.”