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MAF Sends New KODIAK Aircraft, Crew to Haiti Relief Effort
NAMPA, Idaho – MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) has deployed a new KODIAK airplane and four crew members to join its fleet of three aircraft already serving the relief effort following the massive earthquake in Haiti Jan. 12.
The deployment marks the first-ever use of this specially designed airplane in disaster relief work.
Following a brief dedication ceremony yesterday afternoon, the KODIAK took off on its 3,000-mile, 18-hour flight to Haiti.
The KODIAK, which can carry more cargo and passengers than the Cessna planes currently in use in Haiti, will support the MAF relief efforts. The KODIAK runs on jet fuel, which is more readily available than costly aviation gasoline, or “avgas,” which fuels Cessnas and is in short supply in Haiti.
“The KODIAK is the next-generation bush plane and is made for such a time as this,” said John Boyd, president of MAF. “It can land on short, unpaved airstrips to get essential humanitarian help to its destination quickly and safely in the absence of viable roads. The KODIAK will greatly expand our ability to quickly take aid where it is most needed.”
This deployment of its finest aircraft is the latest MAF response to the tragedy that has claimed some 200,000 lives and damaged most of the buildings in the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Disaster response has been an MAF area of expertise for more than 60 years. In past disasters, including the Indonesian Tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Felix and Cyclone Sidr in 2007, and the Haitian hurricanes of 2008, MAF provided communications systems, delivered relief supplies, transported medical teams and assisted humanitarian organizations in reaching people and areas that had been otherwise cut off from assistance.
