Haiti From 15,000 Feet
Unfortunately, my view was from 15,000 feet up, close enough to see Haiti’s unrealized potential as a tropical paradise, but too high to get any real perspective on the cruel fate that has befallen the cursed half of the island of Hispaniola.
OC-135 “Open Skies” aircraft, LoD Photo
I had been to Haiti the 1990s, so I knew firsthand it’s barely functioning government and social institutions was completely ill-equipped to respond to a disaster of this magnitude.
The plane I was on was an aging military version of the old Boeing 707, outfitted with Cold-War era film cameras, and windows on the bottom of the tail section, to accommodate the taking of thousands of reconnaissance photos at a time. The plane usual mission is monitoring compliance with the 2002 “Open Skies” treaty, and in fact the name, “Open Skies” is painted on the tail, next to the tail number.
We arrive over Haiti after a four-hour flight from Washington. From the air the country looks beautiful. Jewel tone waters caress the miles of beach. Rugged rounded mountains have a pleasant green tinge from the tropical trees and plants.
There are few signs of the destructive friction that just occurred between the two tectonic plates that meet at this very spot of the Earth’s crust.
At first we can’t fly over the Port-au-Prince. There is too much air traffic from relief flights that have been landing nonstop, since the United States took control of the airport.
When we do make a pass over the hardest hit area of the capital, it whizzes by so fast the shocking mosaic of shattered shanties is just a blur. Clearly if you want to get a feel for the devastation you would want to use a helicopter, not a jet liner. But our mission is not about getting me a close up look, it’s about building an accurate digital photo map of the country, that can be posted online and accessed by the Pentagon and State Department as they figure how best to direct resources to get Haiti back on its feet. Think Google Earth, but with imagery that’s current, not months or years old.
For three and a half hours we fly back and forth across the country, methodically photographing every inch. The plane follows a tight pattern with sharp turns at each end, like we were mowing a lawn.
As the crew does its work, changing out the bulking film cameras, with their spools of 6-inch wide film, I am jammed in a corner of the tail section shooting video with my tiny home video camera. My video, [See Video here] while visually stunning, doesn’t really tell the story. Down below people are suffering, and from my lofty view, I can’t even see them.
Before returning to Washington, we have a drop to make. All the films will be delivered to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. “Why film?” you may ask, in this age of digital photography. Well, as I mentioned earlier, the usual mission for this plane was monitoring the “Open Skies” treaty, and under the provisions of that treaty only certain kinds of equipment can be on the plane. Digital cameras are not on the list.
Tags: Haiti, OC-135, Quake
Comments (4)
0
Sebastian · 177 weeks ago
Your report on Fox News about YOUR OC-135 reconnaissance plane ride
over Haiti is no different than Sanjay Gupta reporting on a surgery he
did aboard an Aircraft Carrier. The story was a lot about YOU, Mr.
McIntyre as you proved in your own words, "MY one-day INSPECTION
FLIGHT over Haiti came about when I heard from a friend in the Air Force
that a OC-135 reconnaissance plane would be extensively photographing
the impact are of the 7.0 quake that devastated the poverty-stricken
country Tuesday. I managed to hitch a ride on the flight from Andrews
Air Force Base, hoping to get a better idea of the scale of the
destruction." YOUR ride on the flight obviously became the story in
front of the camera at the Fox News desk, when the story should have
been much more about how the Air Force is providing much needed
real-time information to those that can use it instantly to aid in human
life. You are no different than those journalists that you disrespect,
such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta, that are also doing many other great things
using new tools of our time to save lives.
0
DCM · 177 weeks ago
I appreciate the fact the you provided valuable information on what the
USG is doing to help in assisting Haiti. Providing reliable,
unclassified imagery is incredibly important to those assessing not only
relief operations right now, but reconstruction later.
I was the Operations Officer on the OC-135B back in the late 90's (actually on the DTRA side) and we did several missions like this. This aircraft is in demand for its treaty obligations, but the Open Skies community world-wide can offer similar capability as well. Perhaps the US lead will encourage other Open Skies nations (The NATO "Pod Group" or the Bulgarians) to fly in and provide similar capability. It's my understanding there are some mobile film processing available.
Mr. Sebastian: your discourse is very inappropriate in this context. Perhaps you should find a media critic blog to express your opinion.
I was the Operations Officer on the OC-135B back in the late 90's (actually on the DTRA side) and we did several missions like this. This aircraft is in demand for its treaty obligations, but the Open Skies community world-wide can offer similar capability as well. Perhaps the US lead will encourage other Open Skies nations (The NATO "Pod Group" or the Bulgarians) to fly in and provide similar capability. It's my understanding there are some mobile film processing available.
Mr. Sebastian: your discourse is very inappropriate in this context. Perhaps you should find a media critic blog to express your opinion.
0
jamie · 177 weeks ago
I think Sebastian comments were well within the bounds of fair comment.
If one can't take a little criticism, one should not be blogging, And I
do criticize the media, so I thinks all's fair, so long as the attacks
don't get too personal-- Jamie
0
Doug · 175 weeks ago
Are these photos available to the public, or more to the point, the
NGOs, media, and the Haitian government as well as the USG? I can
imagine lots of planning by relief groups, etc. could make use of these,
too. If they are generally available, can you email me about
distributing them? I understand that you took an enormous number of
photos or footage, but there should be a way to distribute the files
(digitized). I'll put my email in the box below and assume you can see
it, if reach me at
/web/20130616212711/http://researchforhaiti.typepad.com/
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