TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1982
UNUSUALLY BUSY YEAR FOR RHKAAF
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THE ROYAL HONG KONG AUXILIARY AIR FORCE HAD AN UNUSUALLY BUSY TIME LAST YEAR CARRYING OUT A TOTAL OF 663 FLIGHTS, INCLUDING MANY +WATER-BOMBING RUNS TO HELP FIGHT FOREST FIRES.
DAUPHIN HELICOPTERS OF THE AUXILIARY UNIT WERE CALLED OUT TO COMBAT OVER 60 SERIOUS OUTBREAKS OF FIRE IN COUNTRY PARKS AND AFFORESTED AREAS, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE RHKAAF SAID.
THE UNIT, WORKING IN SUPPORT OF THE FIRE SERVICES AND THE AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, RELEASED OVER 1 000 TONS OF WATER IN A SERIES OF HIGHLY-SUCCESSFUL BOMBING RUNS OVER THE FLAME FRONTS, INVARIABLY CONTAINING AND EXTINGUISHING THE BLAZES, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
THE RHKAAF ALSO RESPONDED TO MANY LIFE-SAVING REQUESTS AND OPERATED SOME 200 EMERGENCY MEDICAL FLIGHTS FROM THE OUTLYING ISLANDS TO QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL. IT ALSO CONDUCTED 30 SEARCH AND RESCUE MISSIONS, MANY OF WHICH INVOLVED WINCHING OF SURVIVORS FROM HIGH SEAS.
HOWEVER, NOT ALL THE SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS WERE SUCCESSFUL, HE SAID, RECALLING THAT ON NOVEMBER 30, DESPITE A TWO-AND-A-HALF-HOUR SEARCH INVOLVING THREE AIRCRAFT, THE UNIT COULD NOT LOCATE THE 13 SEAMEN LOST FROM A FISHING VESSEL WHICH SANK 30 MILES EAST OF HONG KONG.
THE UNIT ALSO HELPED WITH ANTI-ILLEGAL-IMMIGRATION OPERATIONS, BY GIVING ADVANCED INFORMATION THROUGH AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE PATROLS. THIS WORK CONTRIBUTED TO THE ROUNDING UP OF THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS.
LAST YEAR, DUE TO THE STRONGER OVERALL MEASURES TO CURB ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, THE FORCE CARRIED OUT FEWER SUCH SPECIAL SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS BOTH OVER LOCAL WATERS AND OFF-SHORE.
THE 406 SUCH FLIGHTS CARRIED OUT LAST YEAR WERE MUCH LESS
THAN THE 553 IN 1980, HE SAID.
+THE REDUCED LEVEL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ACTIVITIES IN 1981 PROVIDED A WELCOME RELIEF TO MANY FLYING AND NON-FLYING VOLUNTEERS WHO HAD SPENT ALMOST EVERY DAY FOR THE PRECEDING TWO YEARS REPORTING FOR RHKAAF DUTY AS EARLY AS 5 AM TO CARRY OUT DAWN SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS BEFORE GOING ON TO THE IR NORMAL JOBS AND CARRYING OUT A NORMAL DAYS WORK FOR THEIR EMPLOYERS, THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
+TRIBUTE IS DUE TO THE MANY EMPLOYERS WHO RELEASED MEMBERS OF THE IR STAFF FOR ESSENTIAL RHKAAF DUTY THROUGHOUT THIS PERIOD OF INTENSE ACTIVITY, HE ADDED.
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LOOKING AHEAD, THE SPOKESMAN SAID 1982 IS EXPECTED TO BRING MORE UNIQUE CHALLENGES TO THE AUXILIARY UNIT.
/HE SAID: