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Afghan Detainee Flights Won't Be Nonstop
Wednesday, January 9, 2002
(3:56 AM ET) (08:56 GMT)
The Cable News Network

WASHINGTON
Flights of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba won't be nonstop, military sources said Wednesday, because the air field at Kandahar where the detainees are being kept cannot handle a big Air Force transport.

The plane selected for the main part of the mission is the aging C-141, an aircraft with intercontinental range. However, it is not able to land at Kandahar because the field is too rough.

Instead, another plane -- probably the smaller C-17, with its short landing and takeoff characteristics -- would be the likely choice for the first hop out of Afghanistan. The four-engine C-17 jet can land on a runway only 3,000 feet long and 90 feet wide, according to a document from the Department of Defense.

The detainees would be flown initially to an undisclosed secure location. The prisoners would then be transferred to specially outfitted C-141s for the final leg to Guantanamo.
(More: CNN.com News Source)
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Dan