Katrina Is One Problem... The Government Is Another
The emotional, physical
and financial aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is staggering... and
media reports are hitting the public at all angles about
nearly every possible aspect of the tragedy that befell this
nation. But... one of the more important stories in this drama is
unlikely to get much attention because it centers around the
incredible work being done by the (generally) under-appreciated
folks who populate the General Aviation community. The same
folks who have been maligned in the general media as irresponsible,
and unable to keep from blundering into hastily called and poorly
publicized TFRs or restricted airspace, have not hesitated to give
of their time, dollars, airplanes and resources to go to the aid of
their fellow citizens -- often putting themselves in harm's way in
the process.
ANN has been on the scene of the disaster, off and on, for
several days of the last week and is getting interesting and
rewarding reports from the GA pilots on the front lines of this
amazing rescue and recovery effort. Many of these heroic pilots
are associated with the fine folks who operate the Angel
Flight missions you don't hear enough about in the general
media.
Hundreds of planes, working with dozens of organizations, are
transporting people, supplies, aid and other help all over the
Southern US, and doing their best to deal with difficult conditions
and recalcitrant bureaucracies.
Mind you, most of these pilots are doing this for little or no
compensation/reimbursement and, let's face it, the cost of
operating GA birds, of late, is getting pretty ponderous. To many,
the only financial compensation they may receive is a tax
deduction... but in terms of emotional compensation, the value is
(as one Angel Flight Pilot once put it), "emotionally
staggering."
It's tough duty... and
current events have tasked the skills and patience of the GA world
in many ways. A recent bureaucratic snafu is characteristic of some
of the early confusion, Angel Flight pilots have faced in dealing
with the so-called "professionals" directing the current rescue and
recovery effort.
Over the weekend, Angel Flight was asked to put together one of
their largest missions yet. An Angel Flight (South Central)
staffer told ANN that, "we had just been asked to provide an
emergency evacuation of 80 people from the River Center in Baton
Rouge. We located 80 beds at the Reunion Center Red Cross shelter
in Dallas, arrange ground transportation from Dallas Love to the
shelter and put out a call for sufficient AFSC airplanes and pilots
to airlift 80 folks.
Two hours later, long after our pilots were in the air, the
evacuation was cancelled. The reason for the cancellation was still
unclear when I called a halt to the night's activities and we began
to attempt to reach pilots enroute and turn them around. Some we
stopped, many others arrived in Baton Rouge to discover that the
Governor, the Louisiana Secretary of Social Services, the Parrish
President (something like a County Elected official), or all three
had ordered the cancellation. Very frustrating to know there are
people in desperate need just a few miles from the airport but some
pencil necked so and so halted an evacuation airlift in
progress."
It was a low-blow... but the attitude espoused by Angel Flight's
South Central organization remains positive and determined, "We
will keep trying. We were burned pretty badly tonight. We got
rolling at the specific and frantic, yes, frantic, request of the
authorities only to see it turn into a disappointing and
frustrating exercise in futility. Lesson Number One: We will try to
airlift folks going forward but will only call on our pilots when
the people to be evacuated are at the airport, lined up, ready to
go."
Surprisingly, the Angel Flight airlift continues unabated and
with great enthusiasm. Angel Flight SC spokesperson, Cindy Palmer,
noted that since that debacle, Angel Flight has soldiered on,
"...we've since flown hundreds of people thousands of miles... in
some cases reuniting children with their parents. You have to know
that that feels great."
While one Angel Flight Pilot estimates that GA pilots flying for
AFSC spent "at least $50,000" in fuel for Friday's missions alone,
the South Central chapter of Angel Flight admits that this program
has "really clobbered" their organizational budget. "We need
pilots... but we also need donations... this is an expensive
operation and we've been going non-stop since the storm (cleared)
the area," Palmer adds.
Angel Flight South Central is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
Texas corporation dedicated to the free air transportation of
medical patients, family members, blood, and organs for those who
cannot access such transportation by ordinary commercial
means. Their sole purpose is to serve the community by
sharing a unique service for which there is often no substitute.
Patients and traveling companions are referred and certified by
social workers, caseworkers, physicians, and religious leaders or
ministers.
ANN urges flyers to log onto the Angel Flight SC site listed
below and click on the donation icon on the left side of the page
in order to aid a worthwhile organization doing amazing things for
people in need -- and providing further proof to a myopic
media/public that General Aviation is populated by caring,
responsible aviators who benefit this nation in ways that they
should, and must, come to appreciate.