ASF first European NGO to receive an Aircraft Operator Certificate (AOC)

The AOC attests that ASF complies with the same safety requirements as any airline company.

Deeply into the bush

Two or three times a week, taking off from Bunia (one of the two ASF platforms in Democratic Republic of the Congo), an ASF Caravan serves Ango.

Operations

Theatre of activity in 2011

Last news (July 2011) : Our plane has left Kisangani to relocate further East in Bunia, a town bordering Uganda. This repositioning allows us to better respond to humanitarian needs in this region.

ASF in DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

The DRC is as large as the 15 countries of Europe, and faces one of the most catastrophic situations in the world :1 200 people die every day, either of malnutrition or disease. Ground and river communications are scarce and badly maintained. It is therefore difficult to distribute food, indispensable medicines or vaccines needed for survival, particularly for very young children.
The DRC’s long lasting political instability has generated an escalation in ethnic violence and generalized anarchy. The most elementary human rights are not respected in the zones of conflicts where mutilations, rapes, murders with torture, plunder are commonplace.
In this very difficult context, the Mbandaka ASF mission - set up in 2006 - then that of Kisangani - in 2008 - enables international and national NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organization) to reach the populations of these regions.
From August, 2011, the Kisangani base was transferred to Bunia (in the northeast of the country) to provide a better response to the humanitarian needs of a region often suffering from important population movements caused by the conflicts.

These missions are partially financed by the United Nations Pooled Fund.

The pilots

Some twenty voluntary pilots, in service or expecting a position with French airlines rotate with each other. They work in close collaboration with a logistician (base leader) and a reduced team of local employees.
The pilots go on mission for ASF based upon their voluntary commitment. They have to be members (35 euro / year) of our association and respect the rules of our Charter. They acquire in the course of the mission a matchless experience (difficult weather conditions, strips in the bush, limited navigation aids) and fly an average of eighty hours a month.
With a limited technical support on the spot, they have the full responsibility of each mission entrusted to them.
The particular conditions encountered in missions led us to promulgate some rules and procedures to ensure the competency and experience of ASF pilots.