Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Inside the C-17 Cargo Plane

Aired October 12, 2001 - 07:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also at this time, we are watching developments in Charleston, South Carolina. If you've been with us throughout the week, you know, one of the two-pronged approaches on this air war over Afghanistan, and against Taliban targets on the ground, there, is to also drop humanitarian aid at the same time. One of the ways the U.S. does this is by using this giant cargo plane.

It's called a C-17 and live in Charleston, Kyra Phillips is watching that plane and the troops that support it.

Kyra, good morning.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Bill. That's right, at any moment this crew could get deployed to fly over Afghanistan. We're live here on the flight line. I'm going to have Mark give you kind of an outside visual of this aircraft.

This is the C-17 and we are with the 437th Air Wing. Now from the outside, you're probably wondering yeah, it looks pretty big. But on the inside just imagine two keko whales sitting inside here or four Greyhound buses.

That kind of gives you an idea of how big it is. Now we're going to bring you inside. We're going to introduce you to the crew and tell you how operations take place. We're going to introduce you as Colonel John.

COLONEL JOHN: OK.

PHILLIPS: We're not using names for security reasons. Tell us the biggest difference between a C-5 and the C-17, because during the Gulf War, it was the C-5 that was used for humanitarian effort.

COLONEL JOHN: Well the C-17 is a lot newer, a lot more reliable and the C-5 is 60s technology and we're in 1980s technology and we really the premiere airlifter because we're so reliable and go to -- small airstrips in the forward area. We can haul the same big stuff that they haul. One thing we do real well is humanitarian airlift and that's what we're showing lately with the airdrops over Afghanistan.

PHILLIPS: And that's exactly what we're going to talk about right now. I just signaled Sergeant Cory who - let's shoot the doors here. As they open up, now as he's opening up these doors, we also see other parts of this crew getting ready to push the packs out onto the edge here. I want you to tell me now how this works. You guys are airborne. Who signals you? Who tells you what to do and how quickly does this happen?

COLONEL JOHN: It happens pretty quickly. We slow the airplane down, open the ramp and door like Sergeant Cory just did and we have up to 40 of these boxes in the back of the airplane that are full of the humanitarian rations -- the small yellow packets. And when we get over the drop zone, we release - you can see the white strap that's holding us in.

We release the white straps and the loads fall out the back of the airplane. The boxes tear open and all of the yellow packets flutter down.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

COLONEL JOHN: Up to 20,000 on one airplane on one pass.

PHILLIPS: Wow. So at any moment you guys could go. You could get the call today. You could get the call tomorrow and you're off.

COLONEL JOHN: Right. Right. We're ready all the time to do this.

PHILLIPS: All right I'm going to move on over. Let's go back over this way. Let's talk to the loadmaster. We're going to talk to -- Colonel ,thank you very much. I'm going to bring (INAUDIBLE) over here.

Sergeant Cory, you are the loadmaster - a pretty scary position because you're basically hanging off the edge of this aircraft - correct?

SERGEANT CORY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And tell me about the oxygen and the helmet - how you have to prepare for that position.

SERGEANT CORY: Well we basically put on a restraining harness. It'll keep us from falling out of the aircraft. We have on our oxygen hose and our helmets to keep us from going hypoxic with the high altitudes. It kind of limits us - our movement around the aircraft, but we get everything done safely.

PHILLIPS: How does it feel when you - first of all, your mission, to drop aid to the -- to the refugees and to the folks in this country. When you're hanging on the edge and you're looking down and you're seeing these packets of food going, what's going through your head? How does it make you feel?

SERGEANT CORY: It's a - it's a good feeling knowing you're helping other people out. It's helping the starving or you know anybody that needs it. It's just an overall good feeling.

PHILLIPS: Well tell us about the packets. I've got one right here -- the humanitarian daily ration, HDR. What is in here? I see that you get a note - right - that says food gift from the people of the United States of America. What's in here?

SERGEANT CORY: Basically there's two meals - vegetarian meals, beans and rice. Nothing that one particular area can't eat that'll mess up their ...

PHILLIPS: Sergeant, thank you very much.

Culturally sensitive - we know that. All right and there's a lot of other things that of course this aircraft can do. They have medics on board so they can treat wounded soldiers in addition to dropping aid, so it's a well-versed aircraft here on the C-17. We'll talk more about it in the later hours. Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: OK Kyra, certainly we'll check back in with you. I also want to know how they're able to tell whether or not they hit their target on the ground there as well, especially with those night drops. It is very critical. We'll talk more.

Kyra, thank you. Kyra Phillips live in Charleston, South Carolina.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com