Without your support, crisis like these would be even more devastating.
As always when an emergency needs fast responders, you will hear the engines of many AFW airplanes revving up for takeoff. In times of crisis, it can be general aviation pilots who help play a crucial role in reaching outlying areas in need.
AFW pilots volunteered to help get much needed supplies to firefighters and communities in Oregon. The West Coast has been hit hard this season with hotter and deadlier fires than ever. AFW took to the air immediately to help.
As part of a collaborative airlift effort with California Disaster Airlift Response Teams (CalDART), 23 planes landed in Santa Barbara of which 13 planes were volunteers from AFW. Southern California Wing Leader and AFW Command Pilot Jeff Moorhouse was on the ground as AFW representative and coordinator for this mission. Mission Operations had quickly secured AFW pilots and Jeff checked them in as they arrived, helping to organize the supplies into AFW pilots’ planes. Assorted tubs of medical supplies and 100,000 KN95 masks were being transported.
Jeff says: “It was amazing to see our AFW staff mobilize volunteer pilots on such short notice. That day we demonstrated our ability to not only help patients on a daily basis, but also respond immediately and efficiently to just about any crisis presented to us. From our staff to our volunteer pilots and Earth Angels, AFW once again proves we are the go-to organization when crisis arise.”
