According to flight logs, the Department of National Defence conducted several half-empty mercy flights from Kabul for several days during the period approaching the city’s fall to the Taliban, resulting in thousands of Canadians and their Afghan allies being stranded in the country.
The department explained in a recent memo that the flights had empty seats partly in order to conserve fuel, reports Blacklock’s Reporter.
“When determining how many passengers to load onto an aircraft, our air crew took into consideration several different factors to ensure planes could safely reach their destination,” said the memo. “For example, weather, fuel, cargo, and weight considerations were different for each type of aircraft and for each trip.”
Cabinet had initially sealed the flight logs. On May 25, 2022, MPs on the Commons Special Committee on Afghanistan were told disclosure of the information would impact national security.
Kabul fell on Aug. 15, 2021 and was quickly overtaken by the Taliban.
Of all the allied groups, Canada was the first to close its embassy in the city. Approximately 1,250 Canadians and thousands of Afghan nationals were left trapped in Kabul.
Military planes evacuated 440 people during the two weeks before the fall of Kabul, according to the National Defence memo, titled “Regarding The Government’s Response To The Final Report Of The Special Committee On Afghanistan.”
Some of the planes had as few as 40 passengers aboard despite there being larger military planes available.
At that time in Kabul, the RCAF had several aircraft: the CC-130J Hercules with a capacity for 128 passengers, the CC-150 Polaris with room for 194, and the CC-177 Globemaster, which could accommodate up to 102 passengers.
Canadian Embassy Closed
The memo indicated that on Aug. 15, 2021, when Ambassador Reid Sirrs closed the Canadian Embassy and vacated the city, he departed with 69 Afghan nationals and diplomatic staff. No explanation was given as to why the plane left without a full complement of passengers.“We could hear explosions,” said Ambassador Sirrs at a committee hearing on March 21, 2022. “We could see fires all over the city. When we came into the military side of the airport itself, it was very obvious the city was coming under siege and it became evident to us that a whole bunch of chaotic activity was taking place and was going to escalate.”
Ambassador Sirrs told the committee he had been surprised by the speed of the collapse of Afghanistan.
“The complete collapse of the Afghan forces and the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan came as a surprise to everyone,” he said.
As early as April 1, 2021, Chief Of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre testified the Canadian military concluded “the Afghan government was facing a likely defeat.”
The recently revealed memo confirmed that by April 24, which was almost four months before Kabul’s fall, “the Canadian Armed Forces deployed a planning team to assist the Department of Foreign Affairs in planning related to the rapid evacuation of the Canadian Embassy in Kabul.”
