The Captains Council celebrates the rescue of the two miners from the Maimon mine in the Dominican Republic. We are humbled by the recognition that the CORMIDOM company bestowed on our team through their August 8th, 2022 Press Release.
In the early hours of Tuesday, August 2nd, Francisco Diaz, President of our organization received a call from a Dominican airline, requesting help in finding a freighter aircraft capable of transporting rescue machinery from Canada to the Dominican Republic. This airlift was to happen as soon as practical, no matter the cost. A diagram with the Cubex 6200 machine was sent for our analysis, from which we determined that it was necessary to utilize a heavy transport category airplane, with a wide enough door for the entry of the Cubex machine.
For this operation we could use a Boeing 747 freighter or an Antonov 124 in the civilian fleet, while only a C-17 or a C-5 could do the job in the military fleet. We contacted several US cargo airlines and government officials to conduct a two tier plan to find the quickest airlift for the Cubex machine. US cargo airlines provided a timeline that would take several days into the future, and did not include the expertise for ground handling staff in Canada.
It was determined that a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17 was the quickest way of transporting the machinery, and we recommended that the Dominican government and CORMIDOM Mine’s officially request such an aircraft from the Canadian government. We are pleased that the Canadian government quickly answered the request and that a C-17 was dispatched to airlift the Cubex 6200 machine to the Dominican Republic. It is this Council’s opinion that an operational plan must be created for future disasters, in which the hiring of civilian cargo airplanes and the outreach to allied militaries, is done with expertise and specificity. We also recommend a database with contacts for the different cargo companies and capacities for the different aircraft fleets. Such a plan should also include local capabilities, like cargo loading equipment and handling trucks and personnel.
