Pilots' missions of mercy expanded after Katrina's devastation

Published: 2006-01-17

ATLANTA (CNS) -- When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in late summer and the larger relief agencies responded to victims on the ground, Angel Flight of Georgia, a small nonprofit group located in the administration building of Atlanta's DeKalb Peachtree Airport, took to the air to offer assistance to those in need. For more than 20 years, Angel Flight has provided air transportation at no charge to people with medical needs who lack the means to reach their destination for treatment or who cannot take a commercial flight or public transportation because of immune deficiencies. Normally, Angel Flight conducts these aerial feats of mercy only in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and the Carolinas. However, Katrina's widespread destruction and devastation transformed Angel Flight into a temporary disaster relief and rescue operation. Recruiting people to help with such a massive undertaking was unnecessary because so many calls came into the group's office from Angel Flight pilots, as far away as California, and "earth angels" -- nonpilot volunteers -- who offered to pitch in. About 400 pilots stepped forward to help.

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