By Christopher W. Hunt-
On Saturday, December 10th, Patient AirLift Services (PALS) flew what was clearly its most involved and challenging medical transport mission to date: a five-state, nine- passenger and four family marathon running just shy of 12 hours. The day’s activities would commence at 7:00 a.m. at Helmsley Medical Towers by CarPals to pick up patient Blake Lusty and his mother Lily and end nearly a half day later when PALS pilots Joe Howley and John Rochelle would touch down Howley’s plane at White Plains, New York at 6:20 p.m. On board with the pilots would be six Ohio-based passengers including three-year old Isaac Jones and nine-year old Thane Wooley, both diagnosed with neuroblastoma; heading for New York’s Ronald McDonald House with their families. In between, Howley’s Pilatus PC-12 would travel over 1,300 nautical miles with additional stops in New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio to drop off and pick up patients at each stop, including retired veteran George Petznick, who boarded in Virginia en route to Wright Patterson Medical Center in Ohio. The final take-off would be at 3:30 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio; the final destination: the Million Air Terminal at White Plains where the day’s journey began. “This was an exemplary effort by all involved,” commented co-pilot John Rochelle. “This clearly demonstrates the reach and coordination that PALS can accomplish, even on a one-day mission that involved so many people in numerous locations. As expensive as it is to fly a pressurized, turbine class aircraft all day long, this series of flights was the most efficient use of such a wonderful aircraft and a two pilot crew.”
Please direct all media inquiries and opportunities to:
Chris Hunt
Corporate Communications
chris.hunt@palservices.org
No comments:
Post a Comment