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Mission Log: MAF KODIAK at Work in Haiti

Tuesday, February 02, 2010…For the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) relief effort in Haiti help came just in the nick of time.

The three MAF Cessnas already in Haiti were hard pressed in the wake of the earthquake. The pilots based in-country were in dire need of relief and MAF’s supply of aviation gasoline (avgas) had dwindled to a single truck by the time KODIAK arrived in the disaster zone. Just as exhaustion set in the KODIAK put another shoulder under the load to help keep the mission moving forward. Thankfully, refueling is not an issue because the KODIAK flies on jet-A which is readily available in Haiti and more economical than avgas. And the two extra pilots who joined the flight from MAF’s headquarters in Nampa, Idaho are providing much needed support to the pilots who had been working nonstop since the disaster struck.

“MAF was blessed to be able to fly the new KODIAK where it was direly needed in the very heart of the Haitian catastrophe,” said MAF President John Boyd. “Meanwhile, MAF continues serving a vital role at the Port-au-Prince airport, coordinating the arrival and delivery of international aid flights that are crucial to the survival of hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims.”

Since its arrival in Port-au-Prince, the KODIAK has been in continual daytime use as an air ambulance transferring physicians and patients from Port-au-Prince and the devastated port city of Jacmel to a little-damaged hospital in the inland Haitian city of Pignon.

We were also very excited to hear that the two boxes of supplies collected by 9-year-old Moise Salois of Nampa, Idaho were delivered to a Haitian orphanage the very next day after the KODIAK arrived.

For all of you who are putting boots on the ground in this disaster zone…our prayers are with you as the mission continues.