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MISSION
STATEMENT |
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The Air Care
Alliance promotes, supports, and
represents public benefit flying through
communication and cooperation among
organizations facilitating flights for health,
compassion, and community service. |
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MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL |
RENEW TODAY and SUPPORT ACA!
Don't forget to send in your annual renewal
today!
The Air Care Alliance needs
your continued support - both financially
and with your updated listing information.
'Thank you" to those of you who have already
sent in your data and your dues. For those
of you who have not done so, please return
your data sheet and your membership renewal
as soon as possible.
sandy.johnson@aircareall.org
Scroll below for a list of our 2012 proud
members.
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2012 PUBLIC BENEFIT FLYING AWARDS
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 Votes
are in for the 2012 Public Benefit Flying
Awards!
Thank you to every individual and organization
that submitted a nominee or nominees for an
award this year.
There were 8 nominees for Distinguished
Volunteer Pilot and 3 nominees for Distinguished
Volunteer.
Nominations were also received for Outstanding
Achievement in Advancement of Public Benefit
Flying, and Champion of Public Benefit Flying.
The Selection Committee met on July 2, 2012. The
high caliber of the nominees made the decision
process very challenging for the committee!
Please watch for an announcement of the honorees
very soon.
The official awards ceremony will take place in
Washington, DC this fall.
Watch your email for more nomination
information! |
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JEFFREY KAHN'S
LEGAL CORNER |
REPRINT OF THIS IMPORTANT LEGISLATION!
FAA REAUTHORIZATION BILL ALLOWS FUEL
REIMBURSEMENT FOR PILOTS CHARITABLE
MEDICAL FLIGHTS
On February 14, 2012 President Obama
signed the FAA Modernization and
Reform Act of 2012, a long-awaited
Re-Authorization bill to fund the
Federal Aviation Administration.
Unfortunately, conflicting provisions in the
House and
Senate versions giving
liability protection to volunteer pilots and
organizations were omitted entirely from the
final bill.
However buried in the Bill is a Valentine's
Day present for organizations that have been
seeking to provide fuel reimbursements for
its volunteers and do not have an exemption
from the FAA.
§821 of the Act is a provision that requires
the FAA to interpret FAR §61.113(c) to:
. . . allow an aircraft owner or operator to
accept reimbursement from a volunteer pilot
organization for the fuel costs associated
with a flight operation to provide
transportation for an individual or organ for
medical purposes . . ."
Here are some key points:
1)A pilot flying medical patients or organs
does not violate §61.113(c) merely by
accepting fuel reimbursement from a
volunteer pilot organization.
2) The FAA may (but is not
required to) issue regulations governing pilot
standards (which it always had the power to
do). Of course, if they VPO's act
responsibly, the FAA may see no pressing need
to regulate.
3) The Act was effective immediately upon
signing, without any action from the FAA.
4)In exemptions from granted to certain
volunteer pilot organizations, the FAA has
given us some indication of their viewpoint
on safety standards where pilots receive
reimbursement. To review the exemptions, go
to
http://aes.faa.gov/
and search by entering "61.113(c)" in the
"Regulation" box.
More to come at Air Care 2012 in New
Orleans!
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
2011-2012
Officers
Rol Murrow
ACA Board Chairman
Emergency Volunteer
Air Corps
Charles (Lindy) Kirkland
ACA President
Angel Flight East
Jim Weaver
ACA Vice President
Angel Flight West
Karen Halverson
ACA Secretary
Lifeline Pilots
Jeff Kahn
ACA Treasurer
Angel Flight East
Directors
Judy Benjamin
Angel Flight Central
Hume Davenport
Southwings
Rick Durden
LightHawk
Sandy Johnson
Angel Flight Soars
Kevin Sell
Volunteer Pilots Association
Christopher St. Peter
Operation Angel Planes &
Angel Flight West
Gary St. Peter
Operation Angel Planes
Bill Worden
ACA President Emeritus
Angel Flight West & EVAC
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ACA MEMBER LIST |
SEE WHO ALREADY FLIES WITH US!
Dozens and dozens of groups serve our
communities and those in need, including
international, national, regional, and statewide
groups - and even small local groups with just a
few pilots serving their immediate area.
The Air Care Alliance lists and
makes referrals to all the groups we can find.
If your volunteer pilot organization is not on
the Air Care Alliance Listings Page
at
www.aircareall.org/listings.htm
please send us your information so we can
include you!
ACA
Member Groups
Angel Flight Central
Angel Flight East
Angel Flight Northeast
Angel Flight Soars
Angel Flight South Central
aka Grace Flight
Angel Flight West
Angel Flight of Oklahoma
Badger Aviators
Bahamas Habitat
Children's Flight of Hope
Dreams and Wings
Emergency Volunteer Air Corps
Hope Flight Foundation
Houston Ground Angels
LifeLine Pilots
LightHawk
Operation Angel Planes
Patient Airlift Services
Pilots for Patients
South Wings
Veteran's Airlift Command
Vital Flight
Volunteer Pilots Association
Wings Flights of Hope
Wings of Mercy East Michigan
Wings of Mercy - West Michigan
Also in
Our Listings
AeroAngel
Aerobridge
Air Charity Network
Air Mercy
Angel Flight Alberta
Angel Flight Australia
Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic
Angel Flight Southeast
Angel Flight of Vancouver Island
Aviation for Humanity
Cair Flight
Challenge Air for Kids & Friends
Christian Air Ministry
Civil Air Patrol
Cloud Nine Rescue Flights
Corporate Angel Network
EAA Young Eagles
Flights for Life
Flying Paws
Flying Samaritans
Freedom Flight
Grace on Wings
Help Four Paws
His Wings Aviation Ministries
Hope Air of Canada
Hope Wings Foundation
International Shrine Aviation
Assoc.
Kids Wings
Liga - Flying Doctors of Mercy
Los Medicos Voladores
Medflight of Indiana
Mercy Flight Alabama
Mercy Flight Indiana
aka Wings of Mercy-Illiana
Mercy Flight Southeast
Mercy Medical Airlift and its
fully administered subgroups
Mercy Wings Network
Miracle Flights for Kids
Missions Made Possible
NC Baptist Men Aviation Ministry
Northwoods AirLifeLine
One Heart Missions Services
Pilots for Christ International
Pilots N Paws
Remote Area Medical
Volunteer Corps
Servant Air Ministries
Sky Hope Network
SkyArk
Volunteer Mercy Pilots
Wings for Children - SC
Wings of Hope
Wings of Mercy - MN
Be a
Member of ACA today!
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JOIN OUR LIST
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Official Newsletter of the
Air Care Alliance
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July 2012 |
Greetings!
Air Care 2012 - Another
Great Conference
Rol
Murrow, Chairman of the Board
We all owe our Air Care
2012 Host Group Pilots for
Patients, especially
Philip and Sharon Thomas
and Angela Doles
our tremendous thanks for their
hospitality and organizing skill
in presenting our annual
conference this year in
beautiful New Orleans.
Dozens of representatives from
many groups came together to
share their ideas and
experiences and hear
presentations on a variety of
topics highly useful in
administering our organizations
and better telling the stories
of our wonderful volunteers.
If you have any doubt about the
value of attending an Air Care
event please talk with some of
this year's attendees. In
addition to all the useful
information we were also
provided great social
opportunities to get to know one
another, put faces to names, and
enjoy the sights and sounds of
the city of New Orleans.
For a review of the proceedings
please visit our Air Care 2012
Page by
clicking here
And - be sure to join us next
year at Air Care 2013!
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Updates and Upward
Progress
Charles Kirkland
(Lindy), President of the Board
We are closing in on the final
edits for the ACA/AOPA
Volunteer Pilot Safety Course!
A small team of reviewers looked
over the Beta version of the
course this past week and made
several edits. Most of the
comments were very positive and
indicate that the final product
should be something of which we
all can be proud. This has been
a long, long process, mainly due
to a shortage of staff at AOPA
and the company hired to do the
development of the course. But
we are almost done!!
Several weeks ago, Rol, Jeff and
I met with representatives of
the FAA (AFS 800)
at FAA Headquarters in
Washington, DC regarding the
Fuel Reimbursement issue. They
were very receptive to our
concerns and expressed a
willingness to work with the
Air Care Alliance
on a solution that would improve
on the current waiver process.
As a result of that meeting,
Rick Durden, Cody Welch, Jeff
and I are working on a white
paper to present to the FAA in
the near future that will start
the dialogue on how to make the
reimbursement process less
onerous and more accessible than
the current waiver system.
For those of you who will be
attending AirVenture
this year, the Air Care Alliance
will be presenting a seminar at
2:30 on Tuesday, 24 July
in the Vette Theater
located inside the EAA
Museum. Please come out
and show your support. Also, we
will be stopping by the booths
of those groups who are
displaying at AirVenture.
Hope to see you there!
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In the Media |
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Look at
all the
attention!
We are nearly half
way through the year and the AOPA Charitable
Flying Public Relations Program is soaring!
Print Campaigns
Barton Gilanelli & Associates
has been going though our list of charitable
flying organizations and pitching them to the
media in selected areas where they fly. In
early May, Angel Flight Northeast
was pitched in Maine, Life Line Pilots
in Colorado and Angel Flight Central
in Missouri. So far this strategy
has generated 10 stories and two
more are pending.
Here is an example of one of the stories from
Maine that appeared in the Kennebec
Journal and The Morning
Sentinel. Click
here
An Associated Press (AP)
reporter wrote about a mission for Angel
Flight West. The story ran in the
Bend, Oregon Spokesman Review,
and on the website of WBNS-TV,
CBS affiliate (Columbus, Ohio) and in
the Washington Examiner, also
based in Bend, OR. Click
here
Angel Flight South Central
volunteer pilot Jason Tuggle
was profiled in the Austin's Texas
American Statesman. Click
here
As mentioned in our last update, the story about
Angel Flight East appeared in a
Philadelphia paper, the Chestnut Hill
Local.
Click here
TV Campaigns
On May 31, Angel Flight Soars
volunteer pilot Welles Murphey flew
a baby from Savannah, Georgia to Miami to
receive an organ transplant. Here's the story
that was done by Savannah's Channel 22,
an affiliate of both FOX and ABC.
Click here
Moving forward, I strongly suggest that you
consider missions to discuss with Barton
Gilanelli. Is there a region in your service
area where you would like them to pitch the
media about your organization?
Just call Barton Gilanelli at 215-592-8601 and
ask for Judith Eckles or email
her at
judith@bartgil.com and let her know in which
of your service areas you'd like to raise your
visibility.
Don't forget we are also looking for your
missions. Contact Judith with your missions to
see if they're worthy of a media pitch. Getting
stories about your organization is a very
powerful way to get more patients, pilots and,
of course, more money.
Lastly, to date the Charitable Flying PR
Program is responsible for 37
stories that have reached more than
6 million people. The future
of the program looks bright. Many of you have
already seen the direct benefits of these
stories. |
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ACA Member Spotlight |
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Patient Airlift Services of Farmingdale, NY
Although Patient Airlift Services (PALS)
is one of the newest Volunteer Pilot
Organizations (VPO) to be formed and
join the ACA, many of the
PALS Board members and pilots
have a long history of involvement with other
VPO's. We at PALS believe strongly in
transparency, honoring the donations of time and
money from those who are a part of the PALS Team
and the collaborative efforts in joining an
organization such as the ACA. Combining all of
the above allows us to keep the mission at the
forefront and serve those in need of our
services more powerfully.
PALS mission is twofold, to serve our patients
and our pilots. To best serve the individuals
that turn to us for help, PALS listens to each
patient with care and compassion. Our mission
coordinators do everything possible to fill a
flight request. When PALS does arrange a
flight, we do our best to ensure that the
patient has ground transportation and
appropriate accommodations. If it is not
possible for PALS to arrange a flight,our
staff refers the patients to one of our
counterparts in another region or to an
appropriate resource. Our mission staff
maintains a list of referral resources to
ensure that we can provide any information
that may be helpful to our patients.
PALS is very thankful for all of the support
we have received from our friends at the ACA,
including access to the Angel Flight
West AFIDS mission coordination system,
and receiving advice on best practices from
all of the ACA members especially
Angel Flight Soars and Angel
Flight Central. Thanks to the PALS
board, their knowledge and connections, the
dedication of the PALS staff and volunteer
pilots, coupled with the support we have had
from our friends at the ACA, we have
experienced some amazing growth since our
inception in 2010, quadrupling the number of
flights we arranged -- from 400 in our first
year to over 1,600 to date!
To best serve or honor our volunteer Pilots
and "Auto" Pilots we have formed a completely
volunteer board which has oversight for all
financial transactions, ensuring proper use of
all donated services and funds. We
additionally work to have all flight related
fees waived, ask for fuel discounts when
possible, and have advised our pilots that we
will pay for any hotel expenses incurred
should a situation arise that would compromise
the safety of the flight.
Finally, PALS petitioned the FAA for fuel
reimbursement at the suggestion of some of our
pilots, our petition was granted, and in April
of 2012 we issued the first reimbursement
check to a pilot who did a flight that was
qualified under the exemption. It should be
noted that we have decided NONE of the PALS
Board Members who are pilots are eligible for
the Fuel Reimbursement, and also that our
pilots do NOT have to fundraise to be
reimbursed. They are paid out of a general
fund.
Our pilots are encouraged to be a part of
small town pilot dinners held throughout the
Northeast and participate in any other PALS
activities that might allow for the chance to
meet other PALS pilots. The PALS Board and
Staff are simply representatives for all of
the volunteers who are PALS, and will continue
to do our best to serve them well.
A Notable Story of PALS Services:
Far too often, PALS mission coordinators
have received calls from people saying, "If I
had only known of your services sooner...."For
one family that contacted PALS with this
sentiment, the situation was critical. Over
Thanksgiving weekend, PALS received a frantic
Facebook post from the parents of a 5 year-old
boy with Neuroblastoma living in Virginia.
They had recently learned from their doctors
in Virginia that their son had a
life-threatening tumor that had to be removed
immediately. Unable to perform the surgery in
Virginia, the doctors made an appointment for
the boy with team ofsurgical specialists in
New York. The family could not afford to fly
to New York to help their son. A PALS staff
person saw the post and promptly began calling
pilots. Understanding the critical nature of
the call, a PALS pilot accepted this mission,
leaving New Jersey to pick the family up in
Virginia and bring them to New York. This
emergency flight and the numerous subsequent
trips from Virginia to New York resulted in
the best possible outcome for this young boy:
he is now N.E.D. (No Evidence of Disease).
PALS' hope for the future is that we continue
on a path of increased awareness for the
services we provide, growth in our pool of
volunteer pilots, continued financial support
from individuals and corporations, and
expanded collaborations with other
organizations including our friends at the Air
Care Alliance.
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General email:
mail@aircareall.org
Office Phone and Patient Transport Help Line:
Toll Free: 888-260-9707
Office Fax: 815-572-9192
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