The Baton Rouge Airlift

This past Friday the opportunity arose that would enable me to participate in the relief efforts for the people of Louisiana. I was affiliated with the group Angel Flight. We left on Saturday morning and returned Saturday night. During our flight times, I took some time to write down some observations and thoughts. The following is a copy of those writings:

"03SEP2005 (SAT) 1213 7,000ft West of Atlanta [Dekalb]. Departure time: 1157. Arrived at the field and proceeded to move supplies to seven planes. Initial loads were soap, deodorant, some canned foods. When weight limits were approached, diapers were taken to fill the space. Our flight consisted of soap, deodorant, tooth-brushes, diapers and (finally) first aid kits. We also had two other passengers. 10,000 at ~1220; this seems to be our cruising altitude. Arrive [estimated] Baton Rouge: 1404 (1304 local time). Descent began 1355."

The next several hours were spent moving supplies, getting some food for ourselves, and preparing for our return flight.

"Wheels up 1616 (1516 local time) from Baton Rouge, LA. We are headed back to ATL [Dekalb] after having dropped off our cargo. We are +1 passenger. Cruising speed was 160 knots [during the] inbound [flight]. I anticipate the return will be much faster as we are lighter. While there [at Baton Rouge], inbound air traffic seemed to be constant [other Angel Flights]. There were also a lot of helicopters, at least more than you'd expect, involved in the relief supply efforts. The trip was seemingly anticlimactic as we didn't get to see the people or the places that the supplies were going to. The reward that we've received is being able to watch the news and knowing that we were able to help someone. I really don't understand why two of our passengers came along. They acted sort of like tourists. We could have brought another 325 lbs, or so, of supplies. I should expound on our +1 passenger some more. She is from the New Orleans area. From the bits I've heard, I assume she was evacuated before Katrina hit. She said that she had watched, on the TV, some of her neighbors get rescued. All of the phones are down in New Orleans so she has no idea how extreme the damage is or who is left.
Cruising altitude is 11,000 ft at 155 knots. 2:20 is the expected return flight time."

Our +1 passenger was an 87 or so year old black woman who also had a heart condition (unbeknownst to me at the time). She was brought to the Atlanta area so that she could be with her daughter and some of her family. She did not have enough money to buy a plane ticket or get out of the area otherwise. Two of the local news channels were waiting for us at the airport to film the reunion when we released our precious cargo.

The two tourist passengers I referred to really didn't have a purpose for coming. Congratulations that you are the president of a university. I really don't care. As far as I am concerned, you were a hindrance to operations that were concerned with bringing relief to displaced (not misplaced) people. I have no idea what you expected to find, but in my opinion, if you were really concerned with the well being of these people, you would have found another way to get out there. Instead, you decided to ride along with us for free and were, more or less, a leech the entire time. Even if you do contribute thousands or millions of dollars to the operations, then another $400 for round-trip tickets on a commercial flight shouldn't hurt.

Advice to readers: If you are even involved in relief efforts, don't do something that will possibly take food/supplies from the hands of those you are helping just because you are nosey.

Crispy

P.S. - I will have some pictures soon.