AIR SERV’S HAITI RESPONSE EFFORT

On January 17, a Piper Chieftain departed from Warrenton Airport, to assist World Vision (WVI), and other international NGOs, in their delivery of essential aid and personnel to Haiti.  On January 20, Ron Gatewood, the Chief Pilot, began daily flights between Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince. 

Initially, our focus was on providing World Vision’s Global Rapid Response Team with immediate access and light-cargo capability as their assessment teams determined immediate, intermediate and long term needs following the devastating 7.0 earthquake.  Then, as World Vision was generous enough to allow other NGOs to fill seats on the aircraft, we experienced first hand the sense of real relief from the wide range of humanitarian workers struggling to find a way out of Haiti, if only for a brief respite.   Just knowing there was an air bridge available felt like a safety net for these first responders.

Steve Matthews of the World Vision Global Rapid Response Team says, "World Vision has been working with Air Serv for about twenty-five years and again the partnership and spirit of cooperation resulted in rapid response to a very large humanitarian disaster.  Air Serv got to the scene quickly and immediately started ferrying in relief workers and supplies.  In the big picture, Airserv and World Vision did help alleviate some of the suffering in this horrendous event in Haiti."

When logistical priorities switched to deploying international staff into longer-term field positions Haiti, Air Serv worked alongside WVI to ensure each person was delivered safely and securely.  Unlike other air operations, Air Serv is dedicated to leaving “no passenger left behind.”  During this type of emergency response, traffic and communication are huge obstacles to scheduling any type of transportation.  Using cell phones and text messages, our pilots waited until all passengers were either accounted for or on the plane.  And at the end of each day, our staff and crew felt profoundly privaleged to be a part of this response and to have made even a small difference during a crisis of such great need.