MAF Providing Disaster Relief Flights

In partnership with Ethnos360 Aviation and Helivida, the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is providing disaster relief flights in Sulawesi, Indonesia, after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake and the resulting tsunami devastated the region on Sept. 28. MAF says it has been flying evacuation and emergency personnel transport missions since Tuesday. The organization has also set up a satellite communication system at the Palu airport.

"We've put together a collaborative team operating two Kodiak airplanes and one helicopter, which gives us the ability to reach the towns that have seen destruction as well as the more remote areas where people [are] suffering," said MAF global director of disaster response John Woodberry. "Our folks at the site are seeing houses that have crumbled, huge boats stranded on land by the tsunami, and some areas near the shore that have been wiped clean of any structures."

Recent reports indicate that more than 1,400 people have been killed as a result of the earthquake and tsunami. The disaster has also displaced an estimated 71,000 people and damaged 65,000 homes. MAF is a nonprofit Christian organization that operates a fleet of 128 aircraft from bases in Africa, Asia, Eurasia and Latin America, including seven bases and 15 aircraft in Indonesia. MAF President David Holsten shares more about the organization's aircraft and operations in the video below.