Special Features Editor

Thirty.

That’s how many times pilot David Powell of Trimble has revved up the engines on his Beechcraft Bonanza to make sure someone in need of medical attention gets the specialized help they need.

His efforts represent about 15,000 nautical miles flown at his own expense during the past 21⁄2 years he has been an Airlift Hope of Tennessee volunteer.

Powell, who is employed at Air Evac Lifeteam in Dyersburg and uses a helicopter to move patients and accident victims in his daily job, utilizes his skills and provides his own fuel and other resources, such as his plane, for his “good Samaritan” work after hours with AHTN.

“I got involved through the Angel Flight network 21⁄2 years ago,” Powell says. Airlift Hope of Tennessee announced a name change from Angel Flight about two years ago but remains affiliated with the nationwide Air Charity Network as one of seven geographical districts. 

“I had heard about them through the media several years before and thought it would be a good thing to be able to help people get where they need to go. I had built an aircraft and sold it, so that allowed me to buy a bigger craft I could use for the ‘Angel’ flights. I was just led by the Lord.”

The service which Powell and the other 1,400 volunteer pilots offer is completely free to those they transport. Airlift Hope is supported entirely by “the generosity of volunteer pilots who donate the costs of each flight, by tax-deductible donations from individuals and corporations and by grants from foundations. Airlift Hope is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization recognized by the IRS under Internal Revenue Code Section 502 (c)(3),” according to the group’s Web site.

Jo Ann Speer, manager of the Everett-Stewart Regional Airport in Union City, where Powell houses his plane during the winter months and from where he begins and ends many of his mercy missions, says she offers fuel discounts to pilots flying for the service, but their work remains a gift of time and resources both to those who are sick and in need of speedy delivery to specialized medical facilities and to those who need “compassionate” assistance in reaching the bedside of a dying relative when costs for regular travel are prohibitive. Airlift Hope also transports precious cargo such as blood, medical supplies and key disaster personnel in the event of a national emergency. Airlift Hope pilots were in the air soon after 9-11 and hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The organization’s on-call volunteer pilots are also available for service to transport patients who are in need of life-saving organ transplants and for whom delays could spell disaster.

Powell says pilots must meet minimum flight experience requirements and FAA proficiency requirements and must have current medical certificates and aircraft liability insurance. Planes in use range from four-seat single engine craft to twin-engine pressurized cabin-class planes. Each “high flyer” is inspected annually, as required, 

by the Federal Aviation Admini-stration.

“We go to an Internet Web site that lists all the flights available for dispatch and decide what flight we could do — where the trip would take us and what is involved and if we can work it in to our own schedule,” Powell says. “Then we click on the one we select and that’s how we apply for it. Most flights involve two or three pilots. Recently, I did a flight from Florida to Chicago and there were three pilots. Each one signs up for part of the flight relay and does 200-300 miles.

“We all like to carry children. It’s precious to see a little child that you’re helping a little bit by helping them get to their treatment.”

Among his most memorable passengers have been a little boy who is autistic and a little girl from Kansas City. One adult patient flew twice with Powell as she underwent a lung transplant. In other instances, he has ferried children from Victory Junction Camp in North Carolina — a camping experience provided by the Petty racing family for children with immune deficiencies — back home to Memphis.

“We try to carry each patient with the same level of professionalism and compassion. Sometimes you carry the same person several times and you come to know them and learn something about what they are going through. You try to sort of keep up with them if they are doing some kind of treatment that offers the hope of improvement. Usually, though, we drop a patient off and say good-bye, knowing another pilot will bring them home a day or two later if they are traveling for some type of treatment,” he says.

Most of Powell’s flying patients are going to cancer centers. He also gets to know a lot of transplant patients.

His first flight involved a woman from Little Rock, Ark., who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and needed to get to New Orleans for experimental treatment at Tulane University. 

“She had the best outlook and expectation and faith and it was so touching. Her husband traveled with her and they were just so ‘up’ and I thought a lot about how I would be in that same situation and I wondered if I could be that positive. Another patient I’ve flown a lot is a teenager who has a large birthmark on her face that doctors are trying to remove. She’s just so positive and what she’s going through is such a tough thing for a teenager. Flying with her is always so uplifting,” Powell says. 

In his every day life, Powell is a husband, father of two and grandfather of five. He has had his pilot’s license for 26 years and his hobbies are centered around aviation and cars. He is also a member and deacon of Trimble First Baptist Church.

‘Hope’ful work

Airlift Hope’s mission statement is: “… to ensure that no needy patient is denied access to distant specialized medical evaluation, diagnosis or treatment for lack of long-distance medical air transportation.”

The organization’s link to other volunteer pilot organizations provides multi-state coverage in the Mid-Atlantic region. In 2008, Airlift Hope and its partners completed 1,865 missions, transporting 3,193 patients and escorts, with a public benefit of $1.6 million.

Services are available to any man, woman or child of any age who needs medical care at a distant location and can’t afford air transportation, who has received a medical diagnosis and a signed letter of release from the local physician, who is ambulatory and can sit upright during the flight and who is medically stable and able to fly in a non-pressurized plane. Transport is limited to 1,000 miles one-way and five days’ notice must be given to allow for coordinating a linking mission. Patients may rely on oxygen during the trip, but they cannot require medical attention or the use of any other life-sustaining device during the flight and they must sign a waiver releasing Airlift HOPE and its pilots from liability.

The patient must also be able to arrange for ground transportation to and from the airport and treatment center.

Professional staff coordinate all flights with pilots, patients and families and work with doctors, hospitals and medical centers, as well as social and caseworkers and other care providers to ensure the best outcome.

For more information or to book a flight, Powell suggests those interested go online to www.AngelFlightMidAtlantic.org or airlifehope.org or graceflight.org. They will be guided to a social worker who will document relevant information and the patient request and start the process moving.

Powell says the children he flies are invariably fascinated by the plane and he loves it when their eyes light up. He is able to talk to his “guests in the air” throughout the flight by way of headphones and he says many of them are now seasoned travelers.

“They all teach you something about how to react and how to look at life,” he says.

And Powell and his fellow volunteer pilots are teaching their own lessons — one compassionate flight at a time.

Mrs. Caudle may be contacted at glendacaudle@ucmessenger.com.

Published in The Messenger 4.07.09