This image may end up being the most memorable one from the collapse of Afghanistan. It was taken Sunday when hundreds of Afghans packed onto a U.S. Air Force. Initial reports had 640 Afghans on board the flight from Kabul to Qatar, but now the crew is revealing there were actually 823 passengers. It’s believed to be the most people ever flown on a C-17 Globemaster. Lt. Col. Eric Kut told CNN:
A lot of people talk about rules and capacity. We were trained to handle that maximum perform aircraft. We have women, children, people’s lives at stake. It’s about the training and directors we were able to handle to make sure we can safely and effectively get those people out and max perform those efforts.
He added:
We were there to do what we were trained to do. Our crew had the most faith to handle their crew positions to get after it and get the job done, get the people out safely, and deliver hope and freedom.
Lt. col. eric kut
Technical Sgt. Justin Triola said when the plane took off there was a celebratory feeling on board, “everybody was very thrilled to actually leave.”
Earlier this week Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), an Air Force veteran himself, praised the crew aboard the plane saying, “I hope there [are] awards that will go to the crew of that C-17 because they violated basically every Air Force regulation in packing that many people in there. In the long-run that will end up saving a lot of people’s lives.”
Check out the interview with the crew below.