Srilankan’s ‘Mercy Mission’ ushers citizens to safety
National carrier Srilankan Airlines embarked on a humanitarian mission on February 1 to bring trapped Sri Lankan citizens home to safety from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus that continues to claim the lives of many, mainly in China.
With the infected city currently at a lockdown and cut off from the rest of the world, including states within China itself, getting the 33 Sri Lankans out was a challenging task given the risks associated with it, according to the national carrier.
Last week, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took the decision to bring those residing in Wuhan back to Sri Lanka. While Sri Lankans from other cities in China were able to return, it was not the case for the 33 trapped in Wuhan.
Hence, the ‘Mercy Mission’ was put together, a relief effort that was carried out by Srilankan Airlines, with the backing of the Sri Lankan Air Force, under the directive of President Rajapaksa.
The mission headed by Captain Chaminda de Zoysa comprised of a team of 16 members including the engineers, crew and a medical officer. Unlike the regular flights, the UL1423 had onboard twice the crew capacity given the sensitivity of the mission.
Led by Capt. De Zoysa, the humanitarian mission was carried out by Capt. Anushke Jeewandara, First Officer Shehan Seneviratne, First Officer Akila Seneviratne, Purser Farhaan Haniffa, Cabin Service Supervisor Saminda Perera, Cabin Service
Supervisor Jenaly Jansz, Flight Attendants Amali Hettiarachchi, Koshan Kankanamlage, Danindu Dunusinghe, Dinuk Madurapperuma, Waseem Mohamed, Engineer L.D.M. Pathberiya, Load Controller Darshana Dissanayake Yapa, Technician B.P.R.P. Pathirajah, and Dispatch Manager Don Malisha Prasad.
At a press briefing held last evening in Colombo, Srilankan Airlines Chief Officer Service Delivery Capt. Rajind Ranatunga shared that the planning took about four days, which included the training of the team that volunteered to help execute it.
“The initial task was to get clearance to land in Wuhan, though it was challenging, we did manage to get the same on time.
We have no ground handling staff in China, and the third party company we were working with was carrying on with a skeleton staff. Our team had to handle maintenance and engineering mostly by themselves, and they did exceptional work,” said Capt. Ranatunga.
Speaking about the mission that was carried out following strict medical guidelines, where the team (and passengers) had to do away with their uniforms and get into ‘Ebola’ kits, mission lead Captain de Zoysa expressed the journey was “normal yet abnormal in many ways”.
“It was a normal day-to-day thing we did; flying an aircraft from A to B, but it is abnormal since we had to be prepared to handle this epidemic.
There was a lot of back office planning that went into this; fuel, logistics and others. It was hands on. We were unsure when the mission would kick off, we had no schedule date as we had not received clearance as yet and we were on standby,” shared the captain.
Shedding light on the in-flight experience during the mission, UL1423 Purser Farhaan Haniffa said the crew were well-equipped with the know-how of handling the passengers due to the in-depth training given by the Sri Lankan Air Force.
“The Sri Lankan Air Force trained us well to handle the situation. We were taught how to interact with the passengers, handle the meals, the waste, and assist them with the protective gear, even disinfecting them.
These are our children, our citizens. Our aim was to let them have a feel of home as soon as they boarded the aircraft and assure them they are safe. Our team delivered that,” said Haniffa.
What would under normal circumstances take about 45 minutes to board a flight of full capacity, Srilankan Airlines shared that the boarding of 33 passengers took nearly four hours as the medical checks carried out by the authorities in China were stringent to ensure that only passengers deemed fit to travel could leave the country.
The 33 passengers who arrived at Mattala International Airport were directed by the Sri Lanka Army to the quarantine facility at the Diyatalawa Base Hospital premises.
The coronavirus outbreak has killed at least 362 people and infected more than 17,300 globally, as it continues to spread beyond China.
The virus has been confirmed in more than 25 countries and territories since it was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. Nearly 60 million people remain under lockdown in Chinese cities.