Feds embracing GA for disaster response
From an article on Flying Magazine’s website:
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is embracing general aviation as part of its disaster planning preparations after conducting a successful large-scale disaster drill that included private aircraft dealing with a simulated national emergency.
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In the exercise, GA aircraft participated in coordination with other relief operations conducted by FEMA and local authorities. In previous disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, aircraft volunteered by companies and individuals flew rescue missions on their own because government agencies had not considered using general aviation for bringing critical supplies, medicine and food into a disaster area.
“Our government has an amazing capability to respond to a crisis, whether it’s a terrorist attack, a hurricane or an earthquake,” said Stevenson. “We’re just helping the government respond more rapidly using GA assets that they had never before considered.”
FEMA saw the value of general aviation firsthand in the aftermath of last year’s earthquake in Haiti, when hundreds of private aircraft flew in emergency supplies in the days and weeks after the disaster.
One of the most successful designs of this period was the Douglas DC-3, which became the first airliner that was profitable carrying passengers exclusively, starting the modern era of passenger airline service. By the beginning of Wwii, many towns and cities had built airports, there were numerous qualified pilots available. The war brought many innovations to aviation, like the first jet aircraft and the first liquid-fueled rockets.