A US air force military cargo plane transported 640 Afghans from the airport in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to Qatar on Sunday in one of the busiest flights ever in this type of transport device.
As revealed by the Defense One website, specialized in information on US defense and security, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III from Dover Air Base in the State of Delaware (USA) with the callsign Reach 871 took off with hundreds of citizens who were dealing to leave the Central Asian country after the arrival of the Taliban and the abandonment of the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani.
They boarded the plane on the runway and entered the tail ramp.
Despite the load, the C-17 pilots decided to take off.
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Air traffic controller conversations broadcast by
Forbes
publication
reveal that the military in charge of transport estimated at about 800 passengers on board the C-17.
According to this magazine, the Boeing company's model airplane would have the capacity to seat 134 soldiers with their equipment, but could with a load of 800 people.
In the photo published by
Defense One
, dozens of Afghans, especially men, but also women and children, are seen sitting on the floor of the device occupying the entire space.
A North American official consulted by this website was able to estimate 640 passengers on Reach 871 flight who flew to the Al Udeid base, southwest of Doha, in Qatar.
This information was confirmed on Monday by a US Central Command military spokesperson: "The unusually high number of passengers on board this plane that left HKIA [Hamid Karzai International Airport] that night," said US Lieutenant Colonel Karen Roxberry , "Was the result of an active security environment that required rapid decision-making by the crew, which ultimately allowed these passengers to be safely transported out of the country."
The Kabul airport returned to a certain calm on Tuesday in terms of the flight operation and the control of people, after the terminal lived a dramatic day on Monday with thousands of people trying to flee and during which there were at least six dead, reports Efe.
“Another day at the HKIA in Kabul.
The situation is under control ”, assured the civil representative of NATO for Afghanistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, in the social network Twitter next to images of the cleared airfield runway.
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“The runway at Kabul HKIA International Airport is open. I see planes landing and taking off, ”he said. The United States, which has taken over air control of the terminal, resumed its military flights to repatriate American citizens, diplomatic personnel and the thousands of Afghans who worked with them during the 20-year war against the Taliban.
