Pilot Laura Westley is getting set to take on some of the world’s most dangerous areas to land vital aid for people in need.
She is about to take to the skies and head to trouble spots with the Mission Aviation Fellowship, known as MAF.
Based in Folkestone, the organisation has just acquired a brand new, specially designed Kodiak 100 plane.
It will be used to deliver relief, medical and emergency supplies to some of the most remote places on the globe.
It was designed to make short take offs and landings, sometimes on rough ground.
The revolutionary aircraft is the latest edition to the fleet of aircraft operated by the Christian organisation.
Using more than 120 light aircraft, MAF said it is reaching some of the world’s poorest and isolated people with food, medical help, education and spiritual care.
The new plane was unveiled at Lydd Airport this week before it sets off for Indonesia to join seven others operated by MAF there.
The country has dense rain forests, mountains and rivers, and many parts of the Kalimantan region remain isolated.
People have little or no access to basic facilities like healthcare and education.
Laura, 42, who has adopted two Ugandan children now aged six, said: “I am more scared driving home than landing in unusual locations.”
The former air traffic controller said: “I have been flying with MAF for five years and started flying in 1990.
“I learned to fly because I wanted to work with MAF after reading of the amazing work they do. I did three years in the Air Force as a controller, and my dad was always mad about planes.
“With MAF I have been to Uganda, Sudan, Congo, and Mongolia and am now set to go back to Africa, probably Kenya.
“We tend to go to places where no-one else is willing to visit. There is always a greater amount of risk to our flights but we use a lot of intelligence on the ground and will have a military escort when things get too risky.
“Some of my work is like a bus service. I can go to seven or eight places in a day, just land, unload, load, take off to the next place.
“The work is so variable. I have taken doctors to places where they do eye surgery, and delivery supplies to tackle an ebola outbreak, medical evacuations, security evacuations – there is never a dull moment.
“The plane carries nine passengers, so it can get really busy.
“Sometimes we arrive somewhere and then have to find a place to land. That sometimes means doing a touch and go to assess how soft the ground is. But I have never been scared as so much work is done beforehand to make sure an area we need to visit is not too hostile.”
The aircraft was donated by Isle of Man based AFD Software Ltd. The bush aircraft has a higher payload and range and runs on cheaper jet fuel.
MAF has been operating since 1945 working to overcome barriers in some of the world’s poorest nations.
For more information about MAF and its aircraft, visit www.maf-uk.org/kodiak.
POSTED: 29/11/2009 18:00:00
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