Aid effort transforms quiet airport into very busy hub<\/p>\n
Jim Gomez, Associated Press\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
From a sleepy airstrip with three scheduled flights a day, Banda
\nAceh airport has been transformed into the hectic hub of one of
\nthe world's biggest-ever aid operations, handling about 200
\nflights every 24 hours.<\/p>\n
It's struggling to cope with the sudden transformation.<\/p>\n
Air traffic controller Rohadi Sartono has witnessed the
\ndramatic change from his perch in a makeshift tower atop a
\nbuilding that houses the airport's rest rooms.<\/p>\n
\"It has been very, very, very busy,\" Sartono said, adding that
\nhe and other controllers have been skipping sleep to keep tabs on
\nthe huge volume of flights.<\/p>\n
The Aceh airport used to be open from sunrise to sunset, said
\nNovaro, vice president of a state company that runs the facility.
\n\"Now, it's up from sunrise to sunrise.\"<\/p>\n
It's so busy, he and his colleagues have barely had time to
\nmourn the 20 airport workers -- two thirds of its pre-disaster
\nstaff -- who were washed away or lost family in the massive Dec.
\n26 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region.<\/p>\n
The catastrophe also damaged the airport's tower, said Novaro,
\nwho like many Indonesians uses only one name.<\/p>\n
As the local staff struggled to manage the astronomical surge
\nin flights and keep the skies above Aceh's shattered landscape
\nsafe, Singapore's air force delivered a temporary tower with 11
\nmilitary controllers to help out. That tower handles most
\nmilitary flights, while Sartono's focuses on civilian planes.<\/p>\n
Now, the airport has the feel of a crowded marketplace, as
\ncommercial and military aircraft unload tons of supplies, huge
\nnumbers of foreign volunteers and grieving relatives rescued from
\nthe surrounding country.<\/p>\n
Swarms of local men, watched over by police and soldiers,
\njostle to offer arriving passengers a taxi or motorcycle ride.<\/p>\n
Indonesian aviation officials replaced the airport employees
\nwho didn't show up after the tsunami and added 60 additional
\nworkers to help handle the huge number of flights.<\/p>\n
Frightened of numerous aftershocks that followed the mammoth
\nmagnitude-9 quake that spawned the killer waves, controllers
\nrefused to work in the damaged tower, prompting authorities to
\nbuild a temporary wooden tower on top of a one-story building
\nhousing the airport's rest rooms.<\/p>\n
From there, staff have to juggle flights jostling for limited
\nspace on the tarmac to deliver their precious cargoes of aid and
\nhelpers.<\/p>\n
The airport only has parking space for six aircraft at any
\ntime so other planes are told to wait at an airport in Medan,
\nabout a 40-minute flight away, or have to circle over Banda Aceh
\nuntil a parking slot opens up.<\/p>\n
Some pilots have complained that they are being kept from
\nlanding when they came to help, Sartono said.<\/p>\n
Despite the steep increase in air traffic, authorities said
\nthe airport remained safe and played down concerns that a rash of
\nmishaps was an indication that airport personnel couldn't safely
\nhandle the huge volume of flights.<\/p>\n
A cargo plane struck a herd of cattle that strayed onto the
\nairport's runway on Tuesday last week, causing no injuries but
\nhalting flights -- the lifeline of support to the devastated
\nregion -- for most of a day.<\/p>\n
Last week, two helicopters on a relief mission nearly
\ncollided, airport officials said without elaborating.<\/p>\n
On Monday, a U.S. helicopter on an aid flight crashed in a
\nrice paddy outside the airport, injuring all 10 American Navy
\npersonnel on board. An investigation was underway to determine
\nthe cause of the Seahawk chopper's crash, officials said.<\/p>\n
Amid the organized chaos are constant reminders of Aceh's
\nagony.<\/p>\n
Two Muslim women arriving on Sunday were embraced by three
\nother women. They fell weeping into one another's arms as a male
\nrelative motioned them into a corner and urged them to stop
\ncrying in public.<\/p>\n
Outside the airport, crowds mingle in front of a glass wall
\nplastered with fliers carrying pictures of people missing from
\nthe tsunami onslaught.<\/p>\n
At the departure area, survivors queue patiently, waiting for
\nflights to take them away from the devastation.<\/p>\n
Nighsih Relawati was waiting for a plane with her three
\nchildren and mother. She was leaving behind her husband so he
\ncould watch over their damaged home.<\/p>\n
\"We can't live there. There is no power, no water and we can
\nsmell the assaulting stench of death,\" she said. \"Besides, we're
\nthe only ones living there, every one else has left our village.\"<\/p>\n
GetAP 1.00 -- JAN 10, 2005 16:30:26<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aid-effort-transforms-quiet-airport-into-very-busy-hub-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }