Hait Relief Flight-Gord and Michael Tessier

Monday Jan 18, 2010
Received email from Bahamas Habitat from Harry through St. Catharines Flying Club and forwarded it to Gordon since my aircraft was not available due to annual maintenance.
Gord sent an email to Volunteer pilot coordinator with Bahamas Habitat with our information.
Tuesday Jan 19, 2010
At 12:30 Gord called me to advise we had received a “go” order with the plan being to launch the next day at 10:00 for Nassau. This left us the afternoon to get our last minute stuff done, collect donated relief supplies and pack. Gord also squeezed in an IFR ride with Conrad.
Wednesday Jan 20, 2010
Arrived at the St. Catharines airport at 8:15 (ouch) and started weighing and loading Gord’s plane, a Cessna 337G SKYMASTER. Gord arrived a few minutes later with the donations he had been able to pick up. Also we had a tasking change. We were asked to go to Clayton N.C. to pick up more critically needed medical supplies which would require us to clear U.S. Customs at Buffalo N.Y. By the time the plane was loaded and pulled out of the hangar, we were right on time for a 10:00 launch.  Five minutes before engine start, Buffalo Customs (C.B.P.) called to tell us we would not be allowed to bring in any medical supplies. We therefore had to move our departure time back one hour, completely unpack the plane and repack it with just our personal baggage and aircraft stores. At 10:40 while Gord was checking our enroute weather and filing flight plans we received another call from a Supervisor at Buffalo CBP asking for more information about the medical supplies we wanted to bring in and contact info for Bahamas Habitat. The Supervisor said he would be back to us within 15 minutes. Five minutes later he called back and gave us the OK to bring in the medical supplies (after our assurances we would not be leaving them or selling them in the U.S.). I was also asked to write out a simple manifest of the supplies for CBP. So empty out the plane and repack again. We finally launched about 11:45 and arrived in Buffalo about 12:05. The Customs Officers were very helpful and only asked me to open up a “representative” box of supplies to verify it really was medical supplies. I figured the most damning supplies on board were hypodermic needles. Once the box was opened I think the CBP Officer was near to tears as she verified the needles were empty and they really were the medical supplies we had told her about. We were cleared seconds later.
We launched for Clayton N.C at 1:00 after a final check on the weather. After going through a few rain clouds and paying very close attention to the temperature gauge to avoid icing conditions we landed about 3:30 with warmer 50F temperatures and overcast skies. We met the local coordinator Jim Lee and a local reporter. The plane was refueled and moved into a large hangar which already had about 300 cubic feet of critical care medical supplies. When we asked for the fuel bill, Jim informed us the Clayton Rotary Club took care of it. A second aircraft arrived from Raleigh flown by Adam, a Corporate Lawyer. After the usual comments about lawyers and the bottom of the sea, we packed both aircraft to the limit. We were maxed out by volume, not weight as most of the critical care supplies such as I.V. sets, sutures and bandages are very light. The volunteers at Clayton had clearly labeled and weighed each box to help us complete our “weight and balance” calculations. By the time we were loaded the weather was getting worse as a large storm system was moving in. Jim took us to dinner, then to a hotel for the night, with the promise that we would meet him the following morning at 6:45 for “show and tell” at a “Rotary Club” Breakfast meeting. They paid for the gas ($340+ U.S.) so we felt we had better attend to show them where their money was going.
Thursday Jan 21, 2010
After getting up way earlier than I am used to, we met Jim and went to the meeting. After “show and tell” we left about 7:45 for the airport hoping for a 9:00 launch into gloomy skies with a 700 foot ceiling. While Gord was checking weather and filing an I.F.R. flight plan for Brunswick GA, I finished loading our bags and was interviewed by another reporter. After the usual questions, he asked about the weather. I told him the pilot in command of the aircraft always has the last word about going. I explained a dead airplane doesn’t deliver any supplies. Just then Gordon came back with the frustrating news that we couldn’t leave until Friday as any destination airport south of us was closed due to low ceilings icing and thunder storms. Jim then loaned us his car and said pick me up tomorrow morning. So back to the hotel and an  afternoon in Raleigh.
Friday Jan 22, 2010
We picked Jim up at 8:00 and went back to the airport. The forecasts for our destination indicated we should be able to land any time after 11:00 with conditions improving from there, so we took off about 10:00 and arrived about 11:30 to be told our destination still had a ceiling of 300 feet while our minimum descent altitude was 400 feet. We tried the approach after another pilot reported an 800 ft ceiling, but when our turn came, we felt we were inside a big fluffy marshmallow with only a couple of seconds of actually seeing the ground/water before losing sight of everything again. Gord did the overshoot procedure and we decided to push on to Jacksonville Fl, Craig Municipal airport, about 20 minutes to the south. We broke out into clear skies about half way there and did a visual approach into Craig. We refueled, filed our flight plan and outward bound “eAPIS” report with U.S. CBP and left for Nassau at about 1:00.
It was an uneventful flight until Nassau Approach started vectoring us about 20 miles away from the airport. The controllers were very overworked and after landing they sent us to the wrong part of the airport. After a quick chat with friendly Bahamian Customs Officers we got back in the plane and were sent to where we had originally asked to be sent, Odyssey Aviation. What we saw at Odyssey when we arrived at 5:00 can best be described as organized chaos as the Bahamas Habitat people were working their hearts out, getting aircraft unloaded, talking to their contacts in Haiti to determine priorities for the next day’s deliveries and, loading aircraft and briefing pilots for the next day.  While waiting at Odyssey we saw three Haitian newborns in a basket arrive on their way to the U.S. They couldn’t have been more than a day old. Real life happening even in Nassau. Gord got us a room at the Orange Hill Hotel about 15 minutes from the airport and we arrived about 8:30 PM. After a gourmet meal of Pizza, we were sound asleep by 11:00 PM.

Saturday Jan 23, 2010
We were up at 6:30 to get to the airport for a 7:30 briefing.  When we arrived we were told we were on standby for either Jacmal or Cap Haitien as a larger aircraft called an MU2 Turbo prop was due to arrive from the U.S. before 9:00 to ferry a six member medical team of doctors, nurses and a pharmacist to Haiti. We were tasked to follow them with any baggage or supplies that would not fit in the MU2. The MU2 finally arrived around 11:00 and was ready to go around 12:30. Unfortunately this was too late in the day for us to leave since we would be arriving back in Great Exuma well after dark and we were not able to get the Bahamas Government to turn the lights on. We also would not have sufficient fuel to go from Nassau to Haiti and back to Nassau. So with regret we were retasked about 12:00 to go to Fort Lauderdale to bring in additional supplies to Nassau. Launched at 12:30 and arrived around 2:10. After clearing Customs and finding the supply warehouse, we were loaded and launched back to Nassau by 3:15. Uneventful arrival just before 5:00, unloaded, refueled and went back to the hotel with some other pilots. We ate dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant about 10 minutes away. It was the first real dinner we had eaten since Thursday afternoon in Raleigh, S.C.

Sunday Jan 24, 2010
What day is it? We were losing track. A little less early wake up. Back to the airport by 8:30 where we learned the forecast weather for Monday would pretty well shut down Florida with thunderstorms and tornadoes. We were then tasked to go back to Fort Lauderdale and get as much as we could before the weather went bad. We launched around 10:30 after Miami Centre “lost” our flight plan which meant we had to refile and push back our appointment with US Customs. Because of lowering ceilings Gord had to fly an instrument approach and we broke out about 1500 feet above ground. When we were about a mile from touchdown the controller cleared a jet to take off in front of us. The turbulence generated by the departing jet forced Gord to reject the landing and we had to fly around the airport and land again. Having done the same trip the day before, we had a better idea about where we were supposed to load up after we again cleared U.S. Customs. With a full load of medical supplies and full tummies after a good lunch we were back in the air to Nassau by 2:45 and a 4:15 arrival. After unloading we were tasked along with a Cessna 210 to fly food supplies the next day to Isle de la Gonave just north west of Port Au Prince. We were told they had been without food since the earthquake because they were normally supplied by boat out of Port au Prince. We then loaded 400 lbs. of food on board so we could make an early departure. We returned to the hotel by 7:00 with at least six other pilots and had another enjoyable pizza feast. The rest of the evening was spent working with laptop computers, flight planning, double checking cargo loads, fuel loads, distance calculations, analyzing the limited conditions of the airstrip we would be flying into, watching a “You Tube” video of the approach and landing to Isle Gonave shot earlier in the day and trying to find the strip on Google Earth so we wouldn’t be spending air time trying to find our intended runway.

Monday Jan 25, 2010
Another day of getting up in the middle of the night, for an arrival at the airport before 8:00. We received our VFR clearance around 9:10 after air traffic control lost our flight plan again, and we launched about 9:30. Seconds after takeoff at 500 ft above the ground, Gord said “rear 6 is cold”. When I looked at the exhaust gas temperature gauge, I thought the plugs might have fouled in just that cylinder due to the long taxi times on the ground, and I was expecting to see the temperature rise in the next few seconds as the plug cleared itself. But the Cylinder head temperature was also cold. It was not making sense. Just as the Tower cleared us to turn south over the ocean on our way to Great Exuma, Gord said “rear 2 is also cold and the other cylinders are losing temperature as well. We gotta go back.”
“Nassau Nassau Nassau, CF-TES has an engine problem, rear engine. No emergency at this time but we do have to return to the airport.”
“CF-TES, Nassau tower- turn left heading 255’. Confirm right engine failure?
By this time Gord was starting to feel some vibration from the rear engine so he shut it down -  identify, confirm rear engine, throttle to idle, prop to feather, mixture to idle cut off, rear fuel off, rear magnetos off. This took about 3 seconds.
“Tower, Sky Master CF-TES. We are in the turn. Rear engine shut down and feathered. Declaring an emergency”
“All aircraft, Nassau Tower – radio silence.  Aircraft in distress. CF-TES cleared to land any runway. Do you have the field in sight? Also advise souls on board and fuel?”
“CF-TES has the field in site, downwind for 14. Two souls on board. Six hours fuel.”
“CF-TES left base.”
“CF-TES turning short final 14”.
Gord -Check gear? Michael - Gear down.
As we approached the runway I could see the fire trucks waiting at every entrance to the runway. After a smooth landing we were followed into the Odyssey ramp. Gord said “get ready to get out quickly in case we have a fire,” so seatbelts off, seat pushed back and door open. Before the front engine stopped I was safely out of the airplane and waiting for Gord to get out. We didn’t think to get out the fire extinguisher, but had the rear engine been on fire, I doubt the firemen and firewomen would have given us any time to use it before smothering us in their thick fire proof blankets.
While we were heading back to the airport, Gord was also able to squeeze in a call to the other Bahamas Habitat pilots who took off with us and tell them we would not be able to make the trip. After our safe landing, several of them called in saying “Good Job Gord” knowing it could easily have been them cutting their flight short.
Then I started to fill in the accident report while Gord tried to figure out what happened. What we found were several bites in the rear propeller with one being at least half an inch in diameter and oil leaking from a propeller seal and from the exhaust pipe on one of the rear cylinders.  It was clear the aircraft could not be flown until the propeller was replaced. Gord called the Insurance Company and the Canadian Transportation Safety Board to report the incident. Then it was time to let our families know we would be coming home early and book an Air Canada flight home to Pearson Intl.
First flight available was Tuesday at 1:50 on Tuesday. After emptying the plane of cargo and personal effects, it was back to the hotel to spend a quiet afternoon.

Tuesday Jan 26, 2010
Uneventful trip home and picked up by Gord’s wife Joanne. Home by 7:15 PM.

GOOD THINGS

1. The generosity of people, both Canadian and American, in their reaction to the Crisis.
2. The actions of individual U.S. CBP Officers caught in the middle between the policies handed down to them by Washington and the realities of what was really happening.
3. The incredible hard work done by the Bahamas Habitat people who worked over 14 hours a day coordinating and planning missions, to make the best use of the materials and delivery resources available to them in a real pressure cooker environment.
4. The competence, professionalism and selflessness of all the pilots involved who were constantly supporting each other, giving routing tips to the new pilots and staying in the fight to deliver the precious supplies as long as they could at their expense. Yes pilots tend to be prima donnas who guard their energy and often looked like they were just standing around swilling coffee. Everyone in the operation though knew and understood the “hurry up and wait” frustrations, the inevitable delays and the need to maintain flexibility in a very dynamic environment and the need to keep our energy levels up.
5. The generosity of Odyssey Aviation in Nassau which allowed Bahamas Habitat to just about take over their facilities and sell fuel at a discount. We should also thank the numerous charter pilots for patiently sharing the FBO resources with us.
6. The Nassau Tower Controllers who demonstrated consummate professionalism when we experienced an in flight emergency.

NOT SO GOOD THINGS

1. Washington’s paranoia about General Aviation requiring pilots to not only file an electronic report before entering and leaving the U.S., but also requiring us to telephone the CBP Officers on the ground where we intended to arrive in the U.S. and calculating the intended time of Air Defense Identification Zone Penetration (Triple beaurocracy when minutes counted). This consumed about 90 minutes per flight going into the U.S. Added to that was the requirement to go to Customs at Fort Lauderdale, shut down and restart after Customs Clearance before going to the other side of the airport to pick up cargos bound for Nassau.
2. While accepting the air traffic control system was overwhelmed with flights in the Miami/Nassau area, flight plans were routinely lost, requiring us to refile them. Added time lost and frustration. Nassau controllers were simply overwhelmed by the amount of traffic.
3. Cell phone communications issues. Sometimes in the U.S., “Bell” would work. Other times “Rogers” would work. In the Bahamas it only seemed BATELCO would work and they were not allowing phone calls through any other network. The Coordinators had to use “Skype” to call contacts in the U.S. and Haiti.

As of today 02/22/10, Gord is still waiting for his engine and prop to be crated up and sent to Leavens. Hopefully the engine and prop will be repaired and put back on his plane for a flight home before the end of March. Last word from Gord, “Tell them we are taking up a collection. :)”

Come on Mike,drag us out of the snow so we can get going!

Ok Guys, here ya go. You're on your own now. Good luck.

Good thing there is only the two of us. Did you do a weight and balance Gord?

Don't worry about a thing Michael, Conrad just checked me out and said he has never "seen such flying in his life". I think that was a good thing. I think....

Is that a parachute back there? Not taking any chances Michael?

Ready to hit the air again...

Gord at the Desk, planning their next move.

We may be smaller, but we try harder.

Another load, ready to go. No room for Michael's parachute. Gord says "trust me".

Sure Gord. Trust you and see what happens? That's not the way the prop is supposed to look.