Page 6 - October 2022

Sudanese refugees fled to Chad due to ethnic and religious conflicts.
In 2003, ethnic and religious conflicts in neighboring Sudan sent refugees across the border into landlocked Chad. When reports of brutal murders breached the Western Hemisphere, Doctors Without Borders dispatched assessment teams and soon N22071 landed onto the steaming asphalt of N’Djamena’s runway.
Backed by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Immigration (the humanitarian bureau of the State Department) Air Serv International provided personnel for what then Secretary of State Colin Powell called the world’s “Human Catastrophe.” Air Serv scheduled transport for charitable organizations Oxfam, Save the Children, Red Cross and other non- governmental organizations, while the international press sought seats on N22071. When not shuttling broadcast or print journalists, we carried victims of what they referred to as “killers on camels” one way and medications the other way.
The versatile King Air 200 call-signed “United Nations Kilo One” suited its task perfectly. Logbooks indicated 10,868 airframe hours and flight plans revealed 187 knots average cruise with 850 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-41s consuming 600 pph. Never designed to handle sand and stone, the three-blade propellers turned only 14.5 inches above the surface. However, pilot experience on unprepared surfaces and conscientious maintenance by A&P Roger Ericson resulted in minimal downtime.
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4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
OCTOBER 2022