SUBANG, 18 Feb 23 – The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) through the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) have arranged the flight of two (2) A400M aircraft from No 8 Sqn to complete the mission of delivering humanitarian aid to Syria as instructed by the Malaysian Government. The plane was carrying a total of 42 tons of humanitarian aid goods as a result of the sincere contribution of Malaysians to the people of Syria who were affected by the earthquake that hit the country.

Sincere donations for Syria have been successfully collected since February 15, 2023 through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Disaster Fund. Among the humanitarian aid items brought are ready-to-eat food, baby essentials, medicine supplies, four generators, clothes, blankets, personal protective equipment, tents, carpets and “indoor separators”.

The process of loading these 42-ton humanitarian aid items into the A400M aircraft body started as early as 7.00 pm which was carried out by the crew of No 8 Sqn and members of the Air Movement Branch of Subang Airbase. This process has taken more than 2 hours involving both ships.

The two planes then took off safely at 10.00pm and 10.30pm last night from Subang Airbase. The first aircraft was flown by Commanding Officer No 8 Sqn, Lt Col Wan Azrul bin Wan Azmy RMAF together with 16 other crew members consisting of pilots, co-pilots, engineering officers, loadmasters and technical crew. While the second plane was flown by Maj In’Am Ul Hasan bin Shuhaimy Basha RMAF along with 16 other crew members.

The Ceremony of Sending Humanitarian Aid to Syria was completed by the Chief of Air Force, Gen Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Mohd Asghar Khan bin Goriman Khan RMAF. Earlier, the Chief of Air Force accompanied by the Commander of Air Operations, Lt Gen Dato’ Mohd Shahada bin Ismail TUDM also saw the aid items that had been loaded into the A400M aircraft and met and greeted the officers and members involved with this mission including representatives -representatives of ministries and NGOs.

Among the NGOs that have been involved are PBSM, MERCY Malaysia, BeVital Ihsan Johor, REDA Humanitarian, Malaysia For Syria, Global Peace Mission, MAHAR, MCRD, Shine Catholic Church, Yemeni School Foundation and Syrian People Malaysia.

Also present to witness this delivery ceremony were Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dato’ Cheong Loon Lai; Syrian Embassy Officer, Mr Mhd Ghiath Ibrahim; ACOS Defence Operations & Training, Maj Gen Dato’ Zaidan bin Atan; Air Operations Command Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Dato’ Hj Shamsudin bin Kassim RMDF and Senior Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MAF and NADMA.

The flight to Syria will take 17 hours and 30 minutes through the airspace of several countries and two technical stops. The A400M aircraft is expected to land at Damascus International Airport at noon, February 19, 2023

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𝗗𝗨𝗔 𝗕𝗨𝗔𝗛 𝗣𝗘𝗦𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗧 𝗔𝟰𝟬𝟬𝗠 𝗧𝗨𝗗𝗠 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗧 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗦 𝗞𝗘 𝗦𝗬𝗥𝗜𝗔 𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗞 𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗔𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗡 𝗞𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗔𝗡 𝗞𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗗𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗦𝗔 𝗚𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗔 𝗕𝗨𝗠𝗜

SUBANG, 18 Feb 23 – Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) melalui Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia (TUDM) telah mengatur gerak dua (2) buah pesawat A400M dari No 8 Skn bagi menyempurnakan misi penghantaran bantuan kemanusiaan ke Syria sepertimana yang telah diarahkan oleh Kerajaan Malaysia. Pesawat berkenaan membawa keseluruhan sebanyak 42 tan barangan bantuan kemanusiaan hasil sumbangan ikhlas rakyat Malaysia kepada penduduk Syria yang terjejas akibat gempa bumi yang melanda negara tersebut.

Hasil sumbangan ikhlas untuk Syria ini telah berjaya dikumpulkan sejak 15 Februari 2023 melalui Tabung Bencana Kementerian Luar Negeri. Antara barang-barangan bantuan kemanusian yang dibawa adalah terdiri daripada makanan siap sedia untuk dimakan (Ready to Eat), barangan keperluan bayi, bekalan ubat-ubatan, empat buah generator, pakaian, selimut,kelengkapan perlindungan diri (personal protective equipment), khemah, karpet dan “indoor separators”.

Proses-proses muatnaik barang-barang bantuan kemanusiaan seberat 42 tan ini kedalam badan pesawat A400M telah bermula seawal jam 7.00 petang yang mana telah dilaksanakan oleh anak kapal No 8 Skn dan anggota Cabang Pergerakan Udara PU Subang. Proses ini telah mengambil masa 2 jam lebih melibatkan kedua-kedua kapal tersebut.

Kedua-dua pesawat tersebut kemudiannya telah selamat berlepas pada jam 10.00 malam dan 10.30 malam tadi dari Pangkalan Udara Subang. Pesawat pertama telah diterbangkan oleh Pegawai Memerintah No 8 Skn, Lt Kol Wan Azrul bin Wan Azmy TUDM bersama 16 anak kapal lain terdiri daripada juruterbang, pembantu juruterbang, pegawai kejuruteraan, loadmaster dan kru teknikal. Manakala pesawat kedua telah diterbangkan oleh Mej In’Am Ul Hasan bin Shuhaimy Basha TUDM bersama 16 anak kapal lain.

Majlis Penghantaran Bantuan Kemanusiaan Ke Syria ini telah disempurnakan oleh Panglima Tentera Udara, Jen Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Mohd Asghar Khan bin Goriman Khan TUDM. Terdahulu, Panglima Tentera Udara diiringi oleh Panglima Operasi Udara, Lt Jen Dato’ Mohd Shahada bin Ismail TUDM turut melihat barang-barang bantuan yang telah dimuat naik ke dalam pesawat A400M serta bertemu menyantuni pegawai dan anggota yang terlibat dengan dengan misi ini termasuk juga dari wakil-wakil kementerian dan NGO.

Di antara NGO-NGO yang telah terlibat adalah PBSM, MERCY Malaysia, BeVital Ihsan Johor, REDA Humanitarian, Malaysia For Syria, Global Peace Mission, MAHAR, MCRD, Shine Catholic Church, Yemeni School Foundation dan Syrian People Malaysia.

Turut hadir menyaksikan majlis penghantaran ini adalah TKSU Kementerian Luar Negeri, Dato’ Cheong Loon Lai; Pegawai Kedutaan Syria, Mr Mhd Ghiath Ibrahim; AKS Operasi & Latihan Pertahanan, Mej Jen Dato’ Zaidan bin Atan; Ketua Staf Markas Pemerintahan Operasi Udara, Mej Jen Dato’ Hj Shamsudin bin Kassim TUDM dan Pegawai-pegawai Kanan Kementerian Luar Negeri, ATM serta NADMA.

Penerbangan ke Syria ini akan mengambil masa selama 17 jam 30minit melalui ruang udara beberapa buah negara dan dua persinggahan teknikal. Pesawat A400M ini dijangka mendarat di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Damascus pada waktu tengah hari , 19 Februari 2023