A C-17A aircraft coming in to land. (Photo by: Jason Wells/Loop Images/Universal Images Group via ... [+] Getty Images)
[Updated, 11:15 a.m. ET on August 20]
The flight controller seemingly cannot believe what he is hearing from ‘Reach’ RCH871, a flight Sunday involving a U.S. Air Force C-17A cargo jet that departed from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul bound for Al Udeid airbase in Qatar.
“Ok, how many people are on your jet? 800 people on your jet? Holy cow… Good job getting off the ground!”
You can hear the controller’s side of the exchange with C-17 jet belonging to the New Jersey-based 6th Airlift Squadron in the recording below.
A C-17A Globemaster theoretically can carry a maximum 171,000 pounds of cargo, just enough for 800 persons averaging 200 pounds each. But in terms of space, it’s only designed to seat 134 soldiers with their equipment. To be sure, that capacity could be exceeded in an emergency, and The Drive notes that a C-17A reportedly once transported 670 civilian evacuees in one flight.
On Monday, a U.S. official told Defense One that upon landing about 640 Afghan civilians were counted onboard RCH871, suggesting the C-17 crew had understandably overestimated exactly how many persons had jumped onboard the cargo ramp prior to departure.
Crew photo of child sleeping on floor of flight RCH871 on August 15 covered with crew uniform for ... [+] warmth.
But then on Friday, the U.S. Air Force revealed the crew had the count right, stating there had been 823 person aboard. The 640 person figure was based on bus seating occupied by passengers after disembarking, but did not account for over 183 children seated on their family’s laps.
Photos taken by crew. onboard flight RCH871 on August 15.
Make no mistake, lifting six times more people than an aircraft is designed to seat is a heroic achievement of logistics, skill and sheer grit. Indeed, as RCH871 subsequently promptly received aerial refueling from an orbiting KC-135R tanker, it’s possible it took off with less than its maximum fuel load to ensure it could make it off the ground.
RCH-871 is hardly unique, however—the same official reportedly told Defense One that many other flights may have carried 640 or more passengers.
Online flight tracker data collected by open-source researchers reveal that a full spectrum of military airlift capabilities are at work over Afghanistan in a bid to create a sustainable air bridge to evacuate tens of thousands of expatriates and Afghan allies from Kabul even as Taliban fighters secure the capital and prepare to proclaim a new government called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
These flights typically fly south through Pakistani airspace, then skirt around the coast of Iran over the Gulf of Oman and come in for landing Qatar.
The U.S. military took over air traffic control of the Kabul airport last Saturday. Despite claiming it is closed to civilian flights, it has periodically has allowed a limited number of civilian aircraft to land at the airport.
The shockingly rapid collapse the Afghan military and the government in Kabul in the face of a relentless Taliban advance has led to a massive exodus of foreign workers, diplomats and military personnel—well in advance of the existing plans laid down by the Biden administration and other countries to evacuate them.
Indeed, another significant flight picked up by trackers was that of CH-46E helicopter N38TU flown by the Department of State Air Wing, evacuating staff from the U.S. embassy in Kabul.
Already at least 500 U.S. embassy personnel have been flown out per NBC News, out of possibly as many as 20,000 American nationals in Kabul.
TOPSHOT - A US military helicopter is pictured flying above the US embassy in Kabul on August 15, ... [+] 2021. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Moreover, thousands of Afghans and their families who worked alongside international military forces and aid organizations have poured into the airport, fearing retribution from the Taliban, who were infamous for their brutality and inflicting medieval-style torture and executions on those violating its fundamentalist strictures when they last ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 through 2001.
The U.S. and other countries indeed are planning to resettle thousands of Afghans with an estimated 88,000 currently being processed for Special Immigrant Visas for their roles in assisting U.S. forces at great risk to their lives and those of their families.
That is, if they can make it out of the country. By August 15, reportedly only 2,000 had.
Washington claims the air bridge will ramp up to flying out up to 5,000 persons per day, though. But as days go by, the thousands awaiting their flight to safety at the airport will also require food and water.
Unfortunately, by Monday the mounting sense of desperation the situation has engendered led Afghan civilians to overrun the landing field, causing the U.S. military to at least temporarily freeze flight operations as it attempts to clear the tarmac. As chaos mounts on the field an official told Fox News the U.S. airlift may conclude in just three days.
Videos show civilians swarming around taxiing aircraft and clambering onto the landing gears, a situation which has already resulted in the deaths of up to five persons on Monday according to the Associated Press, with another two armed individuals shot and killed during a scuffle.
So far, the chief workhorses of the airlift are four-engine Boeing C-17A Globemaster jets which combine excellent cargo capacity, long range and short-takeoff and landing capability. You can see a UAE Air Force C-17 taking on evacuees at Kabul below.
But the U.S. military’s venerable turboprop-powered C-130 Hercules medium transports (both the H and the newer J models) are also evidently hard at work. Specialized variants such as the MC-130H and J special operations transports, and the Marine Corps KC-130J Harvest Hawk tanker/gunship have also been active in country.
The US KC-135 Stratotanker from the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron of the 376th Air ... [+] Expeditionary Wing, based in Kyrgyzstan, conducts an aerial refueling of a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft flying from Afghanistan to Kyrgyzstan on December 18, 2011. AFP PHOTO / VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP via Getty Images)
At least as numerous are flights by KC-135R and larger KC-10A refueling tankers, both of which frequently fulfill secondary duties as cargo carriers. In this case, the KC-135s also appear to be providing tanker support to cargo planes, and might also be ferrying fuel to the airport.
A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) on Monday reveals that fuel is running low at the airport, doubtlessly making the refueling mission of the KC-135Rs all the more vital.
Notably, several of the Air Force’s ten specialized KC-135RT special-ops tanker variant have been active over Afghanistan, possibly used to shuffle fuel between regular KC-135s and C-130 aircraft, some of which in turn are capable of refueling helicopters.
Finally, at least two of the Air Force’s gigantic C-5M Galaxy heavy haulers have made an appearance so far. Those have a maximum capacity for 140.5 tons, or (officially) 345 troops in its upper and lower decks.
A crew member walks through an empty cargo hold of a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft on the flightline at ... [+] Dover Air Force Base, Del., Monday, June 21, 2021. The C-5M Super Galaxy is one of the aircraft used for dignified transfer of remains, conducted upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base to honor those who have died while serving in a military theater of operations. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Smaller aircraft recorded shuttling into and out of Kabul include C-20, C-21 and E-11 jets, which are militarized Gulfstream III, Learjet L35A and Bombardier Global Express business jets respectively.
The U.K.’s Royal Air Force is also contributing substantial airlift assets including flights by four C-17s, a C-130J, two Airbus A400M Atlas turboprop-powered medium transports, and four Airbus A330MRTT tanker/transport jets.
Other countries known to have deployed military airlift assets to evacuate nationals include but are by no means limited to:
16 August 2021, Lower Saxony, Wunstorf: An Airbus A400M transport aircraft of the German Air Force ... [+] takes off early this morning from the Wunstorf air base in the Hanover region. In view of the rapid advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Bundeswehr wants to begin evacuating German citizens and local Afghan forces from Kabul. Photo: Hauke-Christian Dittrich/dpa (Photo by Hauke-Christian Dittrich/picture alliance via Getty Images)
But if the inevitable logistical bottleneck flying people out of the airport weren’t enough, there’s also of the very real danger that the tenuous lifeline could come under attack by the Taliban forces entering Kabul.
Unfortunately, on Monday the U.S. embassy noted, “There are reports of the airport taking fire; therefore we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place.” Videos suggest the pressure is real.
Ironically, to pull out of Afghanistan the U.S. military is going back in to Afghanistan, with 7,000 Soldiers and U.S. Marines in the process of deploying to secure the airport to carry out the evacuation, with thousands more standing by in reserve.
TOPSHOT - Afghans (L) crowd at the airport as US soldiers stand guard in Kabul on August 16, 2021. ... [+] (Photo by Shakib Rahmani / AFP) (Photo by SHAKIB RAHMANI/AFP via Getty Images)
The troops deployed to secure the evacuation include:
Meanwhile, 1,000 more troops in Qatar will assist in processing evacuees.
Blackhawk, Cobra and Apache helicopters have been seen flying over Kabul, while Army CH-47F Chinook heavy transport helicopters have been involved in lifting personnel from the U.S. embassy to the airport.
The evacuation effort is also receiving air cover that is unreported by flight trackers. Prior to Kabul’s surrender, the U.S. warplanes conducted strikes in an effort to slow the Taliban advance, using AC-130 gunships, B-52 bombers, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and carrier-based FA-18 Super Hornet fighters.
Undoubtedly, some of those longer-endurance assets are being rotated on station over Kabul. Flight tracker records do show at least one AC-130W Stinger II gunship landing at Kabul.
The British Army is also flying in 600 soldiers to protect the evacuation. Turkey meanwhile hopes to negotiate an agreement with the Taliban to operate the airport, including deploying troops for its security.
Clearly, the evacuation via Kabul’s airport will take some time to complete. One can only hope the massive undertaking will proceed without needless violence or tragic mishap.
Updated at 3:25 PM with information about worsening situation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including deaths, and data on additional military aircraft flights.
Updated at 5:40 PM (including change to title) with new information regarding the number of persons onboard flight RCH571.
Updated at 8/20/2021 at 11 AM with new title and corrected information regarding number of passengers on flight RCH571 and the unit involved.