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C-130s to spray for insects in states affected by hurricane

  • Published
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio --  Two C-130H aircraft and 50 Air Force reservists from the 910th Airlift Wing left Youngstown Air Reserve Station Sept. 8 to fly aerial spray missions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

They will operate out of Duke Field, Fla., because it is near areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Also, the base is able to handle the aircraft and support the aerial spray mission without conflicting with other relief efforts.

In coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control, the Air Force Reserve Command crews will spray New Orleans for insects before working in other affected areas.

They will target mosquitoes and filth flies. These insects are capable of transmitting diseases, such as malaria, West Nile virus and different types of encephalitis. If the insects are not controlled, the probability of people contracting these diseases greatly increases.

Each aerial spray-modified C-130H is capable of spraying about 60,000 acres per day.

The crews fly most of their spray missions at dusk, when the insects are most active.

“The product that will be used to combat the disease-spreading insects will be Dibrom,” said Capt. (Dr.) Karl Haagsma, a research entomologist with the 910th Airlift Wing. “(It) is an extremely effective material for mosquito control and, at the amounts that are applied, is an extremely safe material as well.

“Typically, we apply Dibrom at a rate of 1/2 to 1 oz. per acre,” he said. “When properly applied at these application rates, (it) is virtually non-toxic to humans, while eliminating a majority of the flying mosquito population.”

Registered with the Environmental Protection Agency, the chemical is used for many mosquito-control programs throughout the United States. Wing officials said they would make every effort to inform the public about what areas they will spray on a daily basis.

The 910th AW is the only unit in the Department of Defense tasked to maintain a full-time, fixed-wing aerial spray capability. It has four modified C-130H aircraft to conduct aerial spray missions to control insects, vegetation on military installations and oil spills.
In 1999, three unit C-130s sprayed for 22 days, covering 1.7 million acres of Virginia and North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd. These missions resulted in a 99 percent kill rate of mosquitoes. (AFRC News Service from a 910th AW news release)