Wings to the Rescue

by Robert Ross and Jill Fontaine

One of The Leader magazine’s most popular articles was published in the Fall 1996 edition. In “Jambo! Greetings from Africa,” alumnus Mike Ventre (Class of 1991) shared entries from a journal he was keeping while flying humanitarian relief missions for AirServ International in Sudan during a civil war there.

The need for pilots to fly missions of mercy where people are suffering and in need is as great today as it was then, says Ventre, who now flies for Delta Air Lines. “Pilots usually sign a one-year contract, so there’s a big turnover rate.”

AirServ operates in 36 countries in Africa and the Middle East, including Congo, Chad, Iraq, and Jordan, transporting aid workers and relief supplies to hard-to-reach areas affected by civil unrest, natural disasters, and other life threatening situations. The nonprofit organization also has a support network that provides staff, doctors, food, medicine, immunizations, logistical support, motorcycles, and bicycles.

AirServ’s pilots often rescue children who are homeless, people who have been wounded by military action and left far from home, and families without food or shelter. They fly them to a ground support location, where they are “demilitarized,” fed, given medical attention, taught a skill, and eventually returned home.

(See related article for comments by Ventre and two other Embry-Riddle graduates who are humanitarian pilots in Congo and Mozambique.)

“It takes a special person to do this job,” says Angie Peterson, director of program development at AirServ. “We look for people with strong personalities, who are very mature, able to get along with a group, and are doing this for the right reasons. They need to be somewhat of a free spirit, looking for a challenge.”

Unlike the airlines, organizations like AirServ do not have a checklist for every situation. “If a pilot arrives on a runway in Africa and a man says there is a $500 charge that wasn’t in place yesterday, we have to know our pilot will have the sense to not pay, ” Peterson says.

Before they start flying, humanitarian pilots undergo extensive training to prepare for all sorts of new cultural situations and must be prepared to rethink the way they fly. Often, the runway is a winding dirt road in the middle of a town. “It’s not the African experience you’ve seen on TV,” Peterson says.

AirServ currently has 15 pilots and eight engineers, and a pool of 77 alumni who come and go as needed. Pilots who are interested in the job are usually 30-40 years old, although this year’s pilots are in their early 30s, Peterson says.

In addition to AirServ, two other nonprofit aviation operations fly major relief missions worldwide: Mission Aviation Fellowship and Wings of Hope. Both organizations serve in Africa, Australia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

Jill Fontaine is majoring in Communications in Daytona Beach.