Helicopter Comes Under Bow-And-Arrow Attack, Landing 737 Hits Water Buffalo

Wanted: Cargo planes to carry relief supplies to tsunami victims in South Asia. That word comes from the UN, as the effort to provide food, water and medicine to millions of people in 11 countries kicked into high gear this week.

"We absolutely need more C-17 aircraft - three or four - for one month ... The only governments who have those are the UK and the US," said Isabelle de Muyser-Boucher, in charge of logistics at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). She was quoted by London Daily Telegraph reporters in Geneva.

But that relief effort was somewhat hampered Tuesday when a 737 skidded off the runway at Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, after it apparently hit a water buffalo on the strip. The runway was blocked for much of the day before the aircraft could be moved. Witnesses said it suffered substantial damage to its landing gear.

While aid workers and aircraft bringing supplies were generally well-received throughout the devastated region, an Indian helicopter on a mission to drop food and water over Andaman and Nicobar Islands was attacked by tribesmen using bows and arrows. Authorities say the Indian Coast Guard helicopter, flying over Sentinel Island, wasn't damaged. No one was hurt.

Police in the area said they took the bow-and-arrow attack as a sign that not all the indigenous tribes in the area had been wiped out by the killer waves.

FMI: www.un.org