PAF Readies C-130 For OFW Rescue In Korea

24 August 2015

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) announced that it has placed its three C-130 Hercules cargo planes and one C295 light cargo plane on standby Monday after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) called the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for help in the immediate evacuation of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) working in North and South Korea in case war breaks out between the two Korean nations.

PAF chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado ordered the commander of 222nd Tactical Airlift Squadron based in Mactan Air Base in Cebu to be ready to scramble the aircraft and air crews once the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) gives the green light for the evacuation of tens of thousands of OFWs working in South Korea and North Korea.

The PAF C-130 has a range of 2,049 nautical miles with troops and supply payload enough to carry 90 passengers,from either Pyongyang and Seoul to Manila, while the C295 can accommodate up to 71 passengers per flight. Flying time is expected to be long at 6-7 hours with a single sortie expected to be performed due to flying distance.

Local carriers Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific was also called by DFA to make available all their mono-class Airbus A330-300's that can carry more than 400 passengers for emergency evacuation purposes. Both airlines has regular flights to South Korea.