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Samaritan Aviation
Float planes deliver hope and support by Grant Boyd
“The need is great, and the
need is everywhere,”noted Mark Palm, co-founder and CEO of Samaritan Aviation. He was referring to the humanitarian work that the 12-year- old non-profit Christian aviation organization conducts in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea, along with the need for these types of aerially supported opera- tions worldwide.
Helping others is something Palm has been doing most of his life after becoming increasingly interested in hu- manitarian service (and flying) growing up. As a teenager, he learned what it takes to be a force of good while work- ing with his parents as they ran a homeless mission in Santa Cruz, California.
In his pursuit to positively impact others, Palm traveled the world and came to learn about a country where this
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selfless type of service had become increasingly popular: Papua New Guinea – the world’s second-largest island. Palm became acquainted with the country’s residents and ascertained that ministry in Papua New Guinea would be best supported using aircraft.
While there are several aviation humanitarian organiza- tions with a presence in the country, Samaritan Aviation is the only one that operates float planes. Samaritan Aviation pilots, volunteers and those they serve rely upon a fleet of two amphibious Cessna 206’s that each fly around 250 hours per year. Throughout the organization’s history, they have flown more than 2,400 missions, all completed at no cost to the people in the remote communities.
In 2010, when the organization was founded, Palm shipped their first aircraft in a container from California across thousands of miles. Upon entry, it was the first float plane that had been in the country for nearly five decades. With Samaritan Aviation focusing its efforts upon
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAMARITAN AVIATION