US helicopters employing sling loading technique for relief efforts
By Adnan Rafique

ISLAMABAD—Two US Chinook helicopters equipped with a special type of off-loading capability called ‘sling loading’ delivered plastic sheets to the remote village of Shoval on Saturday.
The special sling loadingtechnique is new to relief efforts in Pakistan. By using sling load capabilities, the effectiveness, capacity and speed of therelief efforts is increased dramatically.
The sling loading technique is new to relief efforts inPakistan. The sling loads, which are actually nets attached underneath the helicopters, greatly increase the carrying capacityof the helicopter as well as the speed at which relief aid can be delivered to the affected areas.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) together with USAID’s partner Mercy Corps is distributing the plastic sheets in the affected areas to help families affected by the October 8 earthquake as the onset of winter approaches.
Helicopter sling loading provides a significant advantage for the relief efforts, allowing relief aid to be delivered in an expeditious, streamlined manner.
Traditionally, loading the inside of a helicopter takes approximately 10-15 minutes, requires a landing manoeuvre and another 10-15 minutes to unload at the delivery site. The load weight is limited to 10,000 ponds.
However, by using sling loads, the CH47 D Chinook helicopter can fly into the affected area, hover and drop the relief supplies and quickly fly out. After the supplies are dropped on the ground, the NGO and the Pakistani military work together to collect the nets for reuse.
This development opens a new chapter of airlift capability. Observers at the site in Shoval on Saturday who had never seen a sling load in operation before commented that the results were “fantastic.” Relief missions with the additional sling load capability will continue on a daily basis, and benefit the families most affected by the earthquake.