Denton mission sends Westover C-5 on delivery to Nicaragua

by MSgt. Timm Huffman
439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

3/24/2014 - WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. -- The spacious cargo bays in Westover's C-5B Galaxies are normally used to ferry military cargo, but a mission in late Janaury had one massive airlifter headed in a different direction, loaded with humanitarian aid.

The mission was part of the Denton Amendment Program, which allows for Department of Defense assets to deliver privatelydonated humanitarian aid supplies to approved countries. On this trip, Team Westover delivered food for starving children in Managua, Nicaragua.

To be exact, 180,000 pounds of food, loaded onto 25 pallets, the crew believed. The aircraft was three-quarters full," said Col. Jeffrey Hancock, the aircraft commander for the mission and Westover's wing vice commander. "In a normal mission we might carry 110,000 to 125,000 pounds of cargo, so this was a heavy load by all accounts."

The aircraft left Westover and overnighted at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., where it was loaded and the crew rested for the night. The next morning, the crew departed, en route for Managua. The four and- a-half hour flight was uneventful and the crew touched down without incident on the runway at the Augusto C. Sandino International Airport.

The airport, not designed to normally accommodate one of the world's largest cargo planes, offered some challenges. Hancock said they had to squeeze the C-5, which has a 222-foot wingspan, down a small taxiway and into a ramp area International Airport.

The airport, not designed to normally accommodate one of the world's largest cargo planes, offered some challenges. Hancock said they had to squeeze the C-5, which has a 222-foot wingspan, down a small taxiway and into a ramp area with very little wing clearance. Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Colucci, a 337th Airlift Squadron loadmaster on the mission, had to get out and walk beside the plane to ensure the wing tip didn't clip anything along the perimeter.

Once the pilots had parked the C-5 the crew prepared to download the humanitarian cargo. Because it was a civilian airport, there wasn't aerial port support. This meant the crew, which included four loadmasters, had to rely on the limited services provided by their host.

"That was the hard part. We see this one, rickety old forklift rattling towards the plane and we just looked at each other thinking 'This is going to take forever!'" said Hancock. Despite questions of whether the forklift would even support the weight of one pallet, let alone 25, the loadmasters got the aircraft unloaded in about two hours.

"We made do, greased the skids, pushed a little harder and got the job done," said Master Sgt. Heriberto Ortiz, one of the other loadmasters.

The Westover loadmaster brought more than just his can-do attitude on his first humanitarian mission, though. When a communication issue arose between the pilots and the airport flight manager, Ortiz, who speaks Spanish, quickly diffused the situation by acting as a translator.

"It wasn't a big deal," said the loadmaster. "He thought we were trying to keep the flight plan from him and we simply didn't have it available yet. I explained the situation, and got the manager what he needed."

With the download complete, the crew "buttoned up" the plane, refueled and returned to the States. Mission complete.

"This was something we don't get to do very often, but it is very rewarding because it helps those in need," said Hancock.