CHICOPEE, Mass. (AP) – Air Force reservists from Westover air base launched a relief mission to disaster-stricken Thailand, which lost more than 4,500 people in this week’s deadly tsunami.

A crew of 10 reservists was scheduled to leave the base Friday afternoon and fly a C-5 cargo plane to Kadena Air Base in Japan. After the 19-hour flight, they will get a load of five rescue helicopters and deliver them to Thailand, said Gordon Newell, a Westover spokesman.

After dropping off the helicopters, the crew will return to Kadena where they may be assigned to more relief missions, Newell said.

More than 121,000 people were killed in Thailand and 10 other countries in southern Asia and Africa from Sunday’s massive earthquake and tsunami waves.