Air Force crew diverted to help Americans departing from Lebanon

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- After being in the desert for two months, C-17 loadmaster Senior Airman Kyle Williams expected the day to be just like every other. It was his 21st birthday and he and his fellow aircrew members from the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron already knew they'd be making five stops along a classified flight pattern inside the Southwest Asia area of operation.

But things change quickly nowadays, and with one phone call Airman Williams and his fellow flight crew members were airborne and on their way to a civilian airport in Cyprus. The crew's mission: Pick up a full load of American citizens who left the escalating conflict in Lebanon and were in Cyprus awaiting transportation to the United States.

Capt. Ed Martin, C-17 pilot and aircraft commander for the mission, said the crew found out early in the morning that they were being diverted to help in Cyprus, but none of them knew what to expect. After a four-hour flight, they landed at a civilian airport in Larnaca to pick up their passengers.

The captain said the crew called ahead to Cyprus when they were about 20 minutes from the airport to ask what they could expect. The response was to configure the aircraft to hold as many passengers as possible. With "mesh seats" on both the sides and down the center aisle, a C-17 with no cargo can seat up to 102 passengers. The crew took on 101 for the flight to Ramstein.

"We loaded the passengers in 20 minutes but were on the ground for two-and-a-half hours to facilitate the arrival times into Germany," Captain Martin said. "The flights were staggered to ensure we didn't overwhelm the folks at Ramstein [who were providing food and comfort to the passengers upon arrival]."

The flight was uneventful until an elderly passenger started having trouble breathing.

"Once we were airborne, I think she just started feeling the effects of the whole situation," said pilot Capt. Dave Compton. "She was alone with no family on board and she didn't speak much English. Someone translated for us and said the passenger was feeling lightheaded and said she couldn't breathe."

Loadmaster Airman Steven Holley and Airman Williams brought the woman to the front of the aircraft, where they comforted her and gave her oxygen. The flight crew sought permission to descend to a lower altitude and also lowered the cabin altitude to make it easier for the passenger to breathe. Once the passenger began to feel better, the flight was back to ‘normal.'

Captain Compton said he was particularly surprised by the number of children on board. He said the crew did what it could to make everyone comfortable and that most of them went to sleep as soon as the aircraft took off and the air conditioning kicked in.

When the C-17 was about two hours away from Ramstein the children began to wake up, so Airmen Williams and Holley took them two at a time up to the flight deck to meet the pilots. Captain Compton said the kids enjoyed looking out the flight deck windows at the snow-topped Alps.

When the C-17 landed five hours later, the flight crew that was originally scheduled for a long day downrange, instead found itself in Germany on crew rest.

"We are excited to be here for two reasons," said Captain Martin. "The biggest reason, obviously, is being a part of this humanitarian mission. We're excited just to get these people out of harm's way. To get out of the AOR and into Germany even for a couple of hours is great."

"I woke up this morning in a war zone," said Airman Williams, "and ended up in Cyprus. It's a very nice birthday present. I expected to spend the day in Iraq. It's amazing how things can change."