ALBANY—Governor David A. Paterson is directing the state’s Air National Guard to assist in Haitian relief efforts, by providing two C-130 cargo aircraft and crew to national relief efforts.
The two aircraft left Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station for Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina to load humanitarian cargo and then head to Port Au Prince. The crews will then fly to Homestead Air Force Base in Florida, where they will continue their relief mission, flying in and out of Haiti with supplies. The mission is expected to last five days.
“I’m extremely proud that the men and women of the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station have been tapped to provide aid and comfort to the people of Haiti in their hour of need. My heart, and the hearts of all New Yorkers go out to the Haitian people in this moment of crisis,” Governor Paterson said in a press release.
The planes—call sign Fuzzy 90 and Bison 91—are jointly operated by the Air Guard’s 107th Airlift Wing and the Air Force Reserve’s 914th Airlift Wing.
The governor has pledged all available state resources in this international relief effort. He said state agencies continue to work with federal and city officials identifying resources that may be requested by the federal government in this massive effort.
The governor also reminded those looking to locate New York citizens thought to be in Haiti at the time of the quake to sign up on the state Registry for New York Citizens in Haiti.
The online registry can be accessed by going to the governor’s website, www.ny.gov/governor/ click on the New York State Registry of New York Citizens in Haiti. The names of people sought must be provided as well as essential contact information. The information collected will not be used or shared for any purpose unrelated to locating and identifying family and friends in Haiti.
For those who do not have access to the web, the governor has established a toll-free hotline 1-888-769-7243. The hotline is operational from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
The states’s Air National Guard’s 107th Airlift Wing, based at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, operates 12 C-130H cargo aircraft in conjunction with the 914th Airlift Wing of the United States Air Force Reserve. This mission involves airmen from both the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.