3.4.3. Airlift Management in Sudden Onset Disasters

a. Scenario

• A typical scenario for managing regional air operations occurred during the floods in Mozambique (2000), the Tsunami (2004/5) in Indonesia and the earthquake in Pakistan (2005). During large scale sudden onset disasters, the tendency is that donors offer assets spontaneously and the humanitarian authorities should endeavour to negotiate a formula to centralise the management of these assets. This approach was successful in Mozambique , but in both Indonesia and Pakistan the national authorities decided to keep the management of the donated assets at their level. Nevertheless, it should be anticipated that donated assets, which are mostly military, will phase out after the initial relief phase. UNJLC and HAS should be prepared to replace these military assets by commercially chartered aircraft and gradually take over the management of all available air capabilities. Similar scenarios are possible in the future. UNJLC and HAS should be prepared to send air experts to the crisis area in the very early stages of a disaster and set-up a structure for centralised management. Office and communication equipment should be readily available and installed to operate efficiently. Subsequently, the national authorities will be invited to the centralise the air management task under the UNJLC/HAS umbrella, while donors would be encouraged to make their assets available for management by UNJLC/HAS.
• In a scenario with fixed wing and helicopter aircraft, it may be required to operate at one or two operations bases, preferably international airports with customs and immigration facilities, and deploy helicopters to designated pick up points. These points should be as close as possible to the disaster area and easily accessible by trucks, carrying the necessary relief commodities and logistics support for the helicopters, including fuel. These pick-up points can also be small airfields which permit landings of C 130, C 160 or Buffalo type of aircraft which can carry fuel for the helicopter operation. Also, a fuel storage capacity should be anticipated.

b. Structure and Responsibilities

• Normally, the Local (National) Emergency Management Authority (LEMA) is in charge for management of the rescue and relief operations and the UNJLC may be integrated into the national disaster management system. It should be noted that the LEMA may oppose to the UNJLC denomination, because it reflects the UN nature (dependence) of the structure. In Mozambique , the organisation was called JLOC, Joint Logistics Operations Cell.
• The UNJLC may be charged with other activities besides the air management function. These functions are discussed in Part 1.
• Although, in the case that the UNJLC reports to the LEMA, the activities will be coordinated with the UN Resident Representative who will normally be appointed as the Humanitarian Coordinator. Administrative and office support will be provided by WFP, the custodian of UNJLC.
• The LEMA will provide the overall directives on the management of the ongoing emergency. In this function, it may be supported by the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team, which, in turn may establish the On Site Operations and Coordination Centre (OSOCC).

- The TORs of the UNDAC Team are in FOM 6.4.09. UNDAC provides technical services, principally in the field of on-site coordination and information collection and dissemination. UNJLC logistics assessment experts may be part of the UNDAC Team for analysing and mapping the status of the logistics infrastructure.

- The OSOCC, if deployed, will mainly be in charge for coordinating the activities of the international rescue teams. The latter will act in accordance with the INSARAG Guidelines which are at FOM 6.6.11.

• Humanitarian priorities will be established by the LEMA, in close consultation with the UN Country Team (CT) which is chaired by the Resident Representative (Humanitarian Coordinator).

• Besides a possible logistics infrastructure analysis and mapping function, the UNJLC will act as the expert adviser on the use of all available air assets to support the rescue and relief phase of the ongoing emergency. It will act as the focal point for compiling all air requests, prioritise these requests and produce a consolidated airlift schedule in close coordination with CAA/ATC authorities and relevant air operators. As soon as HAS is deploying its assets, the scheduling functions will be taken over by the HAS staff.
• As a result, in particular during the initial phase, the UNJLC will have coordination, planning and monitoring functions. In principle, directing and monitoring of the execution will be delegated to HAS (if deployed) or to the staff of countries which provide MCDA assistance.

c. Planning Cycle

• Considering the nature of a sudden onset disaster and the related need to deliver the requested relief commodities very urgently, the UNJLC will aim for a very short planning cycle as shown on the diagram below. Large-scale helicopter operations, i.e. the handling of considerable cargo at the helicopter pick up points should be announced at least one day in advance but other flights may be requested until 11.00 AM on the day preceding the flight. In case of helicopter operations, cargo may be mixed with passengers on condition that the aircraft have adequate licenses and that the passengers are properly manifested.
• The UNJLC air planning officer will make a draft schedule, taking into account the requests for airlift, the available assets and the humanitarian priorities. The draft schedule will be discussed at a coordination meeting at 16.00 hrs. At that time, up-to-date information will be available on the number of serviceable air assets for the next day, the backlog of the ongoing operation and other factors such as crew availability, logistics support such as fuel at the pick-up points, etc.
• After the meeting, the approved schedule will be distributed to all concerned by 17.00 hrs, allowing the requesting organisations to take the necessary actions for preparing the cargo.

• On the execution day, all participating crews will be briefed on the modalities to execute the flights. This briefing will be conducted by the authority which is in charge of flight monitoring, which could be either UNJLC, HAS or staff officers provided by countries which offer MCDA.
• In any case, UNJLC or HAS will keep at least one staff officer at the operations base for monitoring the execution of the flight schedule. Possible changes will be decided at flight monitor level.

d. Individual Functions

The individual functions within the UNJLC Air Section will be as follows:

• The Air Coordinator, which may also be the Chief UNJLC or the Deputy, will be the UNJLC representative to coordinate all air matters with the LEMA, the Humanitarian Coordinator, the custodian agency and other agencies/ humanitarian organisations. He/she will also overview the internal functioning of the UNJLC Air section and keep close liaison with the donors and representatives of the governments offering MCDA. He/she will:

- Propose the mandate of the UNJLC air function and draft the TOR;

- Develop TOR of the individual staff members of the Air Cell;

- Coordinate internal technical functioning of the Air Cell;

- Be the contact point on policy matters regarding airlift coordination with national authorities;

- Establish contact with the LEMA, the Humanitarian Coordinator, the beneficiaries and air operators for agreeing on the coordination process, including the planning cycle;

- In case of bottlenecks, make sure that the schedule takes into account the humanitarian priorities;

- Draft Special Instructions for Aircrew ( SPINS) or formats for aircrew briefing and update as required;

- Oversee the activities of both planning and monitoring staff;

- Receive feedback from beneficiaries and air operators and take corrective actions as required;

- Report to the LEMA on all matters which could influence humanitarian airlift activities;

- Provide regular status reports to the Humanitarian Coordinator and the Custodian Agency;

- Provide information to the Media, as required.

• The Planning Officer will prepare the daily schedule in close coordination with the requesting organisations and taking into account the humanitarian priorities. In this capacity, he/she will:

- Establish and promulgate guidelines for requesting airlift;

- Receive from the air operators relevant information on the estimated number of aircraft available for the relevant planning day;

- Receive information on the handling capacity and fuel availability at secondary airfields and helicopter pick-up points;

- Receive requests from humanitarian organisations for cargo or passenger transport before 11.00 Hrs on the day before execution;

- Draft schedule of all humanitarian flights, taking into account the priorities and seek approval of the UNJLC Air Coordinator;

- Proposed daily schedule to the air operators and relevant national authorities at the daily afternoon air planning meeting;

- Produce passengers’ manifests as required;

- If applicable, coordinate the assignment of mission numbers;

- Produce coordinated and approved flight schedule and promulgate before 17.00 Hrs at the day before departure;

• The Monitoring Officer will closely follow the ongoing operations and change the schedule as required. This function may be handed over to the HAS staff, if deployed. In this capacity, he/she will:

- Be present at the daily afternoon air planning meeting and provide feedback on those mission which have not been accomplished during the ongoing operation and which need to be rescheduled;

- After the air planning meeting, discuss execution modalities of next day’s schedule with the operators;

- Receive approved flight schedule for the next day;

- At the execution day, be present at the morning operations briefing and provide inputs as required;

- Maintain liaison with the relevant ATC authorities to be kept informed on specific restrictions with regard to the use of airspace inbound to and outbound from the crisis area;

- Maintain liaison with the Operators and insist to report any changes in the timing of their flights;

- Monitor loading of cargo and passengers;

- Modify passengers’ manifests as required;

- Keep the operators informed on mandatory changes in the flight schedule;

- Receive proposals for slot changes from operators;

- Coordinate proposed slot changes with the ATC authorities and airlift coordinators at the destination airfields;

- Report important changes to humanitarian organisations involved;

- Inform planning officer of any cancellations for taking flight rescheduling into consideration;

• Operations Briefing . The operations briefing will take place in the morning of the execution day and will be supervised by a qualified air operations officer which could be either UNJLC, HAS or national staff. Following items will be covered during the briefing: daily schedule, weather, ATC procedures at operations base and pick up points, priorities at the pick-up points, de-confliction procedures, mandatory flight levels and/or altitudes, reporting of emergencies and incidents, passenger and cargo handling procedures, dangerous cargo, mandatory documents, flight abort procedures, refuelling, fire prevention and flight safety procedures.
• The Reports Analysis and Statistics Officer will compile and analyse all mission reports and produce daily and weekly summaries. He/she will fulfil the functions as described in Paragraph 3.3.4.

3.5. INFRASTRUCTURE AND ICT

Anticipating that the air management function is fully integrated into the UNJLC structure, the Air Section infrastructure and ICT requirements are included in the UNJLC flyaway kit. Nevertheless, there might be conditions that the UNJLC is not (yet) deployed or that the air entity is functioning separately. Examples are described in paragraphs 3.4.1 and 3.4.3. If Agencies would decide to deploy an ACC for coordinating strategic airlift or if a separate air management section has to deploy for managing the air assets during a sudden onset disaster, the following office space and basic equipment is needed to support an independent Air Coordination Cell (ACC):

a. Office

- One office, space 8 to 10 sq. meters per person and one meeting room

- One desk per person, size 2 by 1 metres minimum.

- One conference table, 2 by 1 metres (in meeting room).

- Three tables for faxes, printer, photocopier, scanner and miscellaneous matters

- Two filing cabinets;

- One television with satellite;

- Provision of wallboards to mount maps and plans.

- Briefing board/flip chart.

- All standard office stationary equipment, e.g. stapler, hole puncher, pens, writing paper, note pads, ring-binder file covers, etc.

- One refrigerator.

- One coffee machine.

b. Communications

- One telephone with unlimited outside access for each individual;

- One mobile phone per staff officer;

- One Fax machine, programmable to send faxes to multiple addresses, with instruction manual, spare paper and spare toner or cartridges.

- Direct or remote access to long-range HF radio or VSAT communication systems.

- One mobile satellite terminal for voice/fax/data, as backup for all other links

c. Information Technology for ACC members

- One laptop for each individual with DVD –RW, memory stick and the necessary connections for Email;

- At least three desk tops. All computers should be in the LAN, have e-mail and DVD-RW capability and standardised software;

- One Power Point Projector;

d. Aviation Documents

- Aircraft reference documents (Jane's).

- Access to Jeppesen Airport Directory (diskettes or on line).

- General Aeronautical publications such as:

• Airways charts (Jeppesen, RAF, USAF)
• Aeronautical charts topographical maps of relevant region(s).

NOTE: Air Movement Coordination Officers will be integrated into the JLC satellite offices, if deployed, and will need basically the same equipment as the JLC Field Coordinators- see FOM 2.1.