Early warning plane sent to earthquake zone
CHENGDU - China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force on Wednesday sent a KJ-200 early warning plane to give directions to helicopters flying relief goods to mountainous earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan province.
Since April 20 when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Lushan county of Sichuan province, a total of 18,000 soldiers and officers from China's military and armed police forces and members of paramilitary reserve forces have been sent to the quake affected areas, along with a number of helicopters, according to military sources.
However, PLA pilots have had difficulty in maneuvering along mountains and valleys where there is thick cloud and rain. Therefore, the Air Force decided to use an early warning plane for air traffic control.
As of 1 pm Wednesday, the KJ-200 had operated for five hours and 18 minutes in the air, and it succeeded in guiding 22 groups of drones in delivery of rescue goods, including daily essentials like food, tents and bottled water.
On related developments, the PLA Chengdu Military Area Command has donated 20 million yuan ($3.22 million) in cash and 20 truckloads of goods to the earthquake victims. Earlier, the provincial military area command of Sichuan also made a donation of 6 million yuan ($967,000) for the same purpose.
Soldiers and officers arrived in the affected area shortly after the strong earthquake that has left at least 193 dead and 11,470 injured. More than 20 others are missing.
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