The Dutch contribution to relief flights for Turkey
In the early morning of 18 August 1999, a Fokker F-60 of the Royal Netherlands Air Force departed for Istanbul at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was carrying 9 people and 5 detection dogs of Reddingshonden Hulpdienst Holland (Holland Rescue Dogs Service), a civil search and rescue organisation.
The dogs were specially trained to detect victims buried under rubble. In the following days, the team rescued 2 children who had survived the devastation. It returned to the Netherlands in a KDC-10 on 22 August. Other aircraft of the Royal Netherlands Air Force brought relief supplies to the stricken region.