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.

FMI: www.angelflightsc.org