“Business aviation operators were the first responders to small, rural communities devastated by the earthquake in Haiti,” said Don Campion, president of Banyan Air Service.
Banyan, a fixed base operator (FBO) at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE), has been the last stop for hundreds of relief flights to Haiti. At Banyan, business airplanes meet medical teams and load up with supplies to rush to airports in Jacmel, Pignon or Cape Haïtien.
“We brought medical teams and supplies to these communities before the military or the UN,” said Campion, “but before the earthquake hit, there was no flight plan for any of those airports.”
In the first days after the earthquake, Campion asked Mike O’Keeffe, Banyan head of aircraft sales and acquisitions, to pilot a King Air 300 loaded with supplies to Jacmel to help blaze the trail for other pilots flying to Haiti for the first time.
“When Mike went to file his flight plan for Jacmel, the computer told him the airport didn’t exist,” Campion explained. “Because Jacmel was not a port of entry, there was no FAA routing for the airport. The FAA was incredibly helpful. Miami Center and the headquarters in Washington worked with Mike to develop a preferred routing for operators to follow. They’ve done everything they can to assist pilots flying relief missions.”
O’Keeffe also worked with the nonprofit organization Corporate Aircraft Responding in Emergencies (CARE) to secure customs clearances for business aviation pilots flying to Jacmel and other small airports in Haiti.
CARE executive director Robin Eissler called the local mayors in each of these communities, who immediately sent letters allowing relief flights to enter the country at the smaller general aviation airports.
“After delivering the supplies to Jacmel, I flew to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic to refuel,” O’Keeffe recalled. “Until now, airports in the DR only accepted cash. So Banyan worked with Servair, which provides services at seven Dominican airports, to pre-approve pilots’ credit cards in advance of their arrival to refuel.”
After returning from his trail-blazing flight, O’Keeffe wrote out detailed instructions for the flight from South Florida to Jacmel on the web site, flightplan.com, which established a blog immediately after the earthquake for pilots to exchange information on operations in Haiti.
Many pilots flying first-time missions to Haiti have used the procedures O’Keeffe posted on flightplan.com, and each day, he answers questions from about half a dozen pilots loading up at FXE for their first relief mission.
Since then, CARE has assigned one operations expert for each of the small airports in Haiti used in relief efforts. Now even pilots who have never left the country can talk with these specialists to help develop a flight plan to an airport like Pignon, a3,700 foot grass strip about 45 miles north of Port-au-Prince.
“Some pilots have even been landing in fields and roads,” said Campion. “In those instances, we worked with the FAA to identify which intersection to fly to, and they can proceed from there on visual flight rules to the community that needs them.”
Fort Lauderdale FBO A Rallying Point for Doctors, Pilots in Relief Effort
The Banyan Air Service FBO at Fort Lauderdale Executive has been at the heart of business aviation’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
At the end of January, 72 volunteer flight crews and aircraft had flown relief missions from FXE to Haiti, making a total of 275 flights.
The team at Banyan provides essential support for relief missions, serving as the gathering place for medical teams and pre-weighing each load of supplies to exactly match the cargo capacity of the aircraft that’s going to be flying it.
Banyan is offering operators flying repeat missions fuel at a special Haiti relief discount.
“These incredible people are donating their airplanes and their flightcrews,” said Banyan president Don Campion. “Some are flying two missions day. We’re just doing everything we can to support them.”
Everyone at FXE is helping with the relief effort. The Red Cross has set up several rooms in one of Banyan’s hangars to receive people rescued from the earthquake, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection has responded by staying open 24 hours a day.
“We have doctors gathered on the ramp waiting for flights to go out, helping us weigh supplies,” said Campion. “You see these guys unloading forklifts, and then you realize they’re neurosurgeons. If they’re willing to go to these devastated communities with nothing but the clothes on their back and their medical equipment, we’ll do everything we can to get them there.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.