Many of the images out of Kabul today have been heartbreaking and infuriating as the people of Afghanistan reacted in panic to the Taliban’s rapid seizure of power.
One image was particularly stunning, and it was taken inside a U.S. Air Force Globemaster C17 cargo jet. The C17 is a massive aircraft used to transport heavy military equipment and troops. On Monday, it was used to transport 640 people out of Kabul. That is about five times the number of people the plane is designed to carry, but hundreds of desperate Afghan civilians who been cleared to evacuate climbed aboard the plane before the ramp closed.
At that point, the plane’s crew had to make a call. According to one official, “the crew made the decision to go.”
Incredible beyond words. A US Globemaster C17, carrying more than five times its passenger limit. 640 Afghans saved from
The Taliban.“The crew made the decision to go”. American heroes.
Via @marcusreports @TaraCopp pic.twitter.com/O8Vel66Igl
— Julia Macfarlane (@juliamacfarlane) August 16, 2021
Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran himself, praised the crew aboard the plane for making the right humanitarian choice.
“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.”
In case you’re curious, a C-17A Globemaster can carry a maximum of 171,000 pounds of cargo in theory. That’s just enough for 800 people, who weigh an average of 200 pounds each.
Watch more from ABC News above.