NEWBURGH, N.Y., - New York Task Force 1, New York City's urban search and rescue team, left Stewart Air National Guard Base here this morning for Haiti on two Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft.
One aircraft departed at 6:09 a.m., with 54 passengers and 11 pallets of cargo on board. The other left at 7:10 a.m., with 26 passengers, four search dogs, three vehicles, and four pallets of cargo.
The 80 members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency-sponsored team, arrived at Stewart Air National Guard Base on Jan. 14 to await transportation to Haiti.
The 105th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard secured the team's equipment while they waited for airlift support.
The New York Air National Guard has also dispatched two C-103H cargo aircraft from Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station to participate in operations in Haiti. The two aircraft, operated by the 107th Airlift Wing in partnership with the Air Force Reserve's 914th Airlift Wing, are headed to Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina to load humanitarian supplies and fly to Haiti.
The two aircraft will then fly to Homestead Air Force Base in Florida for a five-day mission ferrying cargo into and out of Haiti.