Nonprofit Saves Lives One Flight At A Time

By: Maria Morrison

Samaritan Aviation, a Christian nonprofit, is going above and beyond the call for service. Mark Palm traveled to Papua New Guinea in 1994 and saw people dying while trying to reach a hospital. In this rural area, it took days to reach the nearest medical facility. After noticing all the rivers and lakes in the area, and came up with an idea. 

Palm co-founded Samaritan Aviation in 1999, and brought the first floatplane to Papua New Guinea in 2010. Palm brought his wife and three children, along with the Cessna 206, to the East Sepik Province. There, they are able to serve hundreds of thousands of people.

With the seaplanes, a three-hour journey becomes a one-hour flight. The effect in Papua New Guinea has been staggering. The flying ambulances bring ailing people to the hospital and transport vaccines for various diseases. Because of this, they were able to stop polio from spreading across the island and stopped outbreaks of malaria.

A slim majority of Samaritan Aviation’s patients are birthing mothers. Palm recounted a story in which they transported two pregnant women each giving birth to a set of twins, saving six lives in total. The next most common transport is a trauma patient, followed by those suffering from illness or disease.

When someone requires medical attention, they find cell service--which sometimes requires climbing a tree or a mountain--and call Samaritan Aviation. From there, a seaplane is dispatched to the nearest place where it can safely land. Each landing is different since the rivers and lakes can change drastically from one day to the next. 

In the past 12 years of operation, Samaritan Aviation has added more pilots and aircraft. The third aircraft of the fleet will be shipped to Papua New Guinea this fall, and was on display at AirVenture 2022. 

The pilots are all mechanics, and were joined by their families on the island. The total staff includes medical professionals and six Papua New Guineans. Everybody undergoes cultural training first and speaks the local language before beginning operations.

Samaritan Aviation’s operation is entirely supported by partners and donors. Living up to the biblical story of the good samaritan who asks for nothing in return for his kindness, all flights are free of charge.

FMI: https://samaritanaviation.org/