Haiti Relief Support Update

It has been a month since Hurricane Matthew ravaged Haiti, leaving roughly 175,000 homeless with problems mounting such as the spread of cholera and famine. The overall situation in Haiti is dire. Although resources like food and cholera treatments are available, the capability of delivering them to locations across the country has been hindered by inaccessible roadways.

Last week, we announced that we would be sending resources to assist with the relief efforts. This was made possible by our friends at Milestone Aviation who connected us with Airlink. Shortly after, a team of four Bell Helicopter employees made their way to Haiti in a Bell 412EP and a Bell 429.

Following their arrival a Western Global Airlines cargo plane landed with 175,000 pounds of cargo including food, cholera treatment and mitigation supplies, and general medical supplies. It was now on the Bell team to get the supplies to the areas that were once unreachable.

On one of the first relief trips the team was joined by Dr. Laurence Boutin. The team was delivering supplies to the commune of Abricots. Dr. Boutin had been in Haiti for some time, but had been struggling to get to this commune for several weeks because ground vehicles took more than 12 hours to get through the rough terrain. The crew loaded more than 1000 pounds of cargo between the two helicopters and arrived to Abricots in 40 minutes. 

“It’s moments like this where you can really see the power of rotorcraft,” said Will Williamson, Bell Helicopter’s demonstration pilot. “How impassable conditions can be overcome by the capabilities of a helicopter to provide the much needed relief to people who have suffered far too much. It’s also moments like these that reinforce why I became a helicopter pilot.”

Check back for updates from our team on-the-ground in Haiti!