NHC)In the wake of Hurricane Katrina ...
a group of health care professionals and pilots out of Atlanta called Operation Brother's Keeper formed to help bring relief to the homeless and stranded. This group was offering to transport families out of the destruction area to temporary housing offered by Vacation Rentals for Families. Considering my commercial pilot qualifications, I saw a way to use that skill to help. I signed up on the web page; the call to fly a mission came on Saturday morning, September 10th.
Working for a flight school, there are numerous resources available to choose from to make this flight. Considering that I do not personally own an airplane, I contact acquaintances that have access to airplanes that meet the mission requirements. My first call was to John Tabor, who has a share in a Cessna 182. Even though it is not a twin engine airplane, which was the preferred platform requested by the group, it is a more sufficient airplane for the mission at hand than the other training aircraft I normally fly. Upon calling John I learned that he had also signed up with OBK and had been waiting for a call that had not come yet. We decided to check with the logistic officers (spouses) for any un-considered issues and start formulating a plan. Having cleared the initial hurdles, we planned to leave that Saturday evening.
Departing Leesburg, John is ready. So am I.
John's parents live thirty miles outside of Augusta on the way to Atlanta, so overnight accommodations became a non-factor. John's parents live just three miles from the airport, which demonstrates the incredible flexibility and convenience that 5000 airports provide to the general aviation pilot. We left Leesburg, VA (JYO), made a planned stop in Concord, NC (JQF)at the two-hour mark for fuel and charts, and then flew to Wrens, GA (65J) to overnight there.
(View ahead over SW Virginia; there is not a cloud in the sky. One word: HAZE!)
Upon arriving and transferring meager luggage to the car left graciously by John's sister, we drive to the house and settle in for the night. The requisite 20 minutes of TWC (The Weather Channel) was absorbed, and then it was off to bed for an early Sunday morning. Despite the haze of the day before, the weather was looking good, and we awoke just after 6am to a beautiful, almost-autumn-like day.
(Sunrise over the wings - a busy day ahead.)
We were wheels up for the quick 50 minute, 109 mile flight to Dekalb (PDK) just before 8. About 15 miles from PDK, we were cleared for the VOR/DME RWY 27 circling 2R approach and switched to the tower before entering the procedure turn. We were instructed to make right traffic for runway 2R.
(Final approach to PDK).
Established on the ¾ mile final, we were asked to sidestep to 2L. John made that look easy.
(Short final)
Taxiing up to the staging area on the west ramp, we were greeted by the assignment coordinator and other pilots. We soon learned that the plan of the day was in development and that trucks with aid supplies would be arriving on the ramp mid-morning. Following a quick run to grab some post-flight breakfast we took some time to plan, assess fuel status, and get the plane ready for cargo. At 10:15 the truck arrived full of children's clothing, which works well for us since weight would end up being no factor, only space was the determining factor.
(Loaded.)
By just after 11, we were taxiing to depart for Hammond, LA, number 4 for takeoff. After a couple of quick vectors to the west, Atlanta approach cleared us direct to Hammond (HDC), which was fabulous - a 350NM great circle "straight" line. The flight was long enough to actually watch the GPS provide the DTK information to stay on the circle. Curiously, it wasn't until after we were cleared direct that the controller asked us where the airport was. Once we clarified it was in Louisiana, everything was quiet as we climbed up to 8000 feet. Prior to handoff to the next sector, the Atlanta controller took a moment to ask if we were taking supplies, and we replied that we had a full load of kids' clothes. The controller responded with his sincere “…thanks for all that you guys are doing to help out” and switched us to the Center frequency.
Considering the somewhat extra workload that slow GA airplanes add to a controllers' day, those words are high praise indeed.
As we get closer to Hammond, the haze starts to break and the blue tarps and scattered trees start to become visible as we descend. There is a temporary tower set up at Hammond and we report inbound 9NM NE.
(Final RWy 18; Army helo guards the fuel farm.)
After landing on RWY 18, we follow instructions to the west ramp. We see some familiar airplanes and decide where to park. In a few minutes, the truck and people to unload us gather around. The National guard provides some much appreciated bottled water for us. We are quickly unloaded and look to find out what is planned, or being planned for the rest of the day.
(Unloaded)
Now 2:30pm Central time. Other posts by pilots cover the next few two hours fairly well. The trip is a screaming success so far. At this point though, there are no passengers to take northeastward. After an hour of watching the call-a-thon to determine if any shelter has anyone in need of transport, I pick up the Angel Flight literature, which is right next to the Red Cross Hurricane Preparedness tri-fold brochure - how ironic. I call the number on the brochure at 3:20 pm CT on this Sunday, and someone answered the phone. I explained that we, and a whole bunch of assets were on the ground in Hammond, and wanted to know if there was anything that we could be used to do.
After about a half-dozen calls back and forth, I am informed that there is a mission from Naval Air Station Meridian, MS (NMM) to Birmingham, AL (BHM) to transport one person from the MASH unit to facilities in Birmingham. I am briefed for the mission and we start making plans to go. For those not familiar, it is rare to have permission to fly into a military facility, but our flight will use call sign "Angel-Flight-Seven-One-Romeo."
5:00pm, CT. Gas, flight plans, we are soon departing HDC RWY 18 for a northbound trek to NMM. After we climb out, we contact New Orleans departure to request and activate the IFR flight for NGF71R. Once again, we are cleared direct, and the GPS is programmed for the 90 minute flight. Meridian approach requests confirmation that we intend to make a full stop landing at NMM. We confirm our intentions and are switched to tower once in sight of the field for a visual approach to 19R, which is later changed to 19L. John must like those last minute runway changes because he keeps getting them albeit without asking for them. ;)
We are advised of the arresting cable at 1400 feet past the arrival threshold and to "check wheels down." We confirm the information and make the approach to land AFTER the arresting gear.... We'll bring the carrier landing hook next time.
We taxi toward the MASH unit; two US Navy marshallers guide us to an open spot on the voluminous ramp. We are met quite ceremoniously by representatives of the US Public Health Service. The brief tour of the facility informs us that it was established from a pre-positioned hospital kit transported to the station to provide low-priority services, designed to take the pressure off of hospitals who need space for the care of more critical patients. There are few people here and this deployment is the first time it has been tried. Lessons are being learned, which is the good part.
Our passenger is a retired oil worker evacuated from the coast to this facility. He is being relocated to facilities in Birmingham. The case worker is quite glad that he will be leaving this facility for something much more suitable to his needs. He has been here for over two weeks. We are happy to make this happen, and glad to find out he had flown small aircraft and helicopters during his pre-retirement years. It's getting dark and this will be a one-hour night flight. We have plenty of fuel and expect that we will be staying in Birmingham for the night.
9:20 pm ET. We land at BHM. I walk toward the FBO and quickly locate the folks transporting our passenger from the airport to his new home. The transfer is made and it's time to consider what to do next. John and I are both boosted by the success of our day, and determine that a two hour flight to land in Wrens/Augusta again is practical, doable and safe. The prospects of a good night sleep in Birmingham are slim and the hotel availability an issue with so many people still relocated. We gas up and file the flight plan, and coordinate a few more plans with family in GA.
It's a long trip, but we manage to consider and dialog some lessons learned at the micro- and macro-policy levels across all of Alabama and much of GA. A weary approach controller is only too happy to receive our IFR cancellation at 1215 Monday morning, and we make the only approach into the airport - a visual one. There are no instrument approaches to Wrens, but we have the GPS and I put it into OBS mode to create an artificial extended center line for intercept and tracking. It works well. Considering that it's dark, late and the fatigue of having departed 17 hours ago is starting to creep into the picture, it's good to be down safely and headed for bed.
Cessna 182K N2871R performed flawlessly for the 9.5 hours of flight time that was recorded this particular 11 September. She would see us safely back to Leesburg the following day.
One mission accomplished.
