IAF rescues: An Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft set out from Uttar Pradesh’s Hindan Air Force Station on May 3 and flew through the night before landing in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah, during the early hours of May 4. The aircraft refuelled at Jeddah to undertake a nonstop flight from Jeddah, via war torn sudan and back to India.
The aircraft took excess fuel from Jeddah to avoid a situation of non-availability of fuel and refuelling delays in Sudan.
The mission was one of a kind, with the aircraft carrying 192 passengers, mostly ladies, children and elderly persons. The passengers were either NRIs, foreign nationals or OCIs (Overseas Citizens of India). They were not permitted a landing at Jeddah, due to which they were required to be flown directly to India in a nonstop flight.
At Sudan, the aircraft carried out an overhead steep tactical arrival, followed by an assault approach to land the heavy jet. During the ground operations, the aircraft engines were kept running in readiness for a quick exit from the airfield, in case of need.
