Haiti Response News: David Robertson
Volunteer pilot David Robertson shares about his recent trip to Haiti.
Where to start? On Thursday the 14th, I received a call from John. He basically ask if I would be willing to be on call to go take medical supplies into Haiti and bring American Missionaries out. I said “sure, call if you need me”. About 3 pm on Friday the 15th, I received a call and ask if I could be in Ft. lauderdale that night to load up and go to Haiti the next morning. I said that I could and about 9 pm I met Kenneth, a Cessna 340 pilot from Iowa and we loaded both planes for an early morning departure. After that things started happening fast. We met another Baron and an Aztec in exuma for fuel and landed at Cap Hatien, Haiti a short time latter. BMH had contacts on the ground there and the customs and immigration event was painless. Over the next few days we made multiple trips into Las Cayes with medical supplies, and once a group of 5 doctors from South Carolina. We moved missionaries from there out to Inagua and finally Nassau and home. The village of Mignon was a memorable trip for me. Matt and Cameron, chief pilots for BMH, found the strip on Google earth, and determined that it was grass and about 3000 feet long and gave me a lat long coordinate. I must admit I was sceptical, but it was a nice smooth grass strip, and right where they said it would be. I flew about 45 hours on the trip and all but about an hour was loaded. I am from north Alabama, and on my last day, a young man in Las Cayes, told Matt that he was from Minnesota, but his family was visiting friends in Montgomery Alabama. Matt grinned at me and said “what about that?” He rode home with me that night and I was thankful for the company. I am very impressed with the efficiency of BMH. At the end of every day the planes were positioned to meet the needs of the next day. Many commercial operations are not as efficient. This was an experience that I will never forget, and would consider a privilege to do again.