Airbus super transporter delivers relief copter for Aceh
PETALING JAYA: It is huge, looks like a whale and from its hold emerged a relief helicopter.
The Airbus A300-600 Super Transporter, also known as “Beluga,” made its first landing in Malaysia at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang on Friday evening.
One of five belonging to Airbus, the Beluga, was delivering a Eurocopter Super Puma heavy lift helicopter in support of the French Red Cross’ tsunami relief effort in Sumatra, Indonesia.
The Beluga has a maximum payload of 47 metric tonnes and with a range of 1660km is capable of flying transatlantic missions.
The Super Puma has the capacity to carry up to five tonnes of cargo and is able to travel up to 275kph.
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EASY DOES IT!: The helicopter being removed from the Airbus Beluga by a tower crane at the airport in Subang on Friday. |
There the helicopter will be fully assembled and used for transporting aid supplies in the tsunami-hit Aceh province.
The French Red Cross now operates a smaller helicopter in Aceh, using it to transport survivors and relief workers.
French Red Cross Service Purchase and Logistics representative Thierry Bandiera said the helicopter would be used for work within Banda Aceh, Meulaboh, Sigli and Medan.
“Currently, there are 25 French personnel in Aceh and we are planning to send another ten to twenty medical staff in the near future,” he said.
He also said the French Red Cross had installed two water-purifying systems in Aceh province which could purify 600,000 litres of water a day.
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