United Airlines completes first Afghanistan rescue mission

The flight landed at Dulles International Airport with approximately 340 American military personnel, civilians and Afghan evacuees onboard

United Airlines has completed its first flight as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which is assisting in the effort to evacuate American citizens and personnel, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other at-risk individuals from Afghanistan.  

PENTAGON COMPELS COMMERCIAL AIRLINES TO HELP WITH AFGHANISTAN EVACUATION

The flight landed at Dulles International Airport with approximately 340 American military personnel, civilians and Afghan evacuees onboard. The mission operated as UA2578 on a Boeing 777-300. 

Video footage and photos shared by United show Dulles International Airport employees passing out water, food, clothing and other supplies which were brought onto the plane as the flight's passengers awaited entry into the United States.

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A United spokesperson told FOX Business that more than 8,000 of its employees have come forward looking to assist with Afghanistan evacuation efforts, including pilots, flight attendants, aviation maintenance technicians and employees who speak Dari, Farsi and Pashtu working as interpreters on flights.

In addition, United has a team in both Washington, D.C., and Chicago working to source supplies and provide support to airports across the world.

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UAL UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. 47.88 +0.64 +1.35%

"While we are unable to publicly share additional operational details regarding flight schedules, city pairs and timing, we will continue to fly these missions over the next several days at least," the spokesperson added.

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According to the latest figures from the White House, approximately 58,700 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan by the United States since Aug. 14. Since the end of July, approximately 63,900 people have been relocated. 

Between Aug. 23 at 3 a.m. Eastern time and Aug. 24 at 3 a.m. Eastern time, approximately 21,600 people were evacuated from Kabul as a result of 37 military flights. The flights were made up of 32 C-17s and 5 C-130s, which carried approximately 12,700 evacuees, and 57 coalition flights, which carried 8,900 people.

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Other airlines assisting with Afghanistan evacuations as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet include American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air and Hawaiian Airlines.