As residents of South Florida and survivors of Hurricane Andrew, Avionica personnel are keenly aware of the acute needs of storm survivors in the aftermath, particularly in the hours and days immediately following the storm.

Though the commercial and military aviation disaster response is well publicized, there are thousands of General Aviation (GA) aviators flying relief into many small airfields in the strike zone whose indispensable efforts are often overlooked. In the wake of Katrina' s fury, Avionica joined the massive GA effort organized by Angel Flight's Georgia chapter to ferry much needed supplies into the disaster area.

On Saturday, September 3rd, our company aircraft, Bonanza N54PF, piloted by Avionica president Raul Segredo and copilot Harlan Hamlin, Flight Explorer Vice President of Messaging Services, ferried over 600 Lbs. of personal hygiene supplies between Atlanta's Peachtree-Dekalb Airport (PDK) and Baton Rouge (BTR).

“There are so many in need, and this is our way to help,” said Hamlin. “This is God’s work.”

Harlan has been coordinating Angel Flight operations between Georgia and Mississippi. Flight Explorer provides air-to-ground messaging capability for aircraft operations, and the company has installed equipment at several airports in the strike zone enabling airport personnel to monitor relief flight traffic in the absence of traditional air traffic control systems.

"With so much of humanity's worst being reported on the news, it was heartening to see the airport filled with private aicraft bringing relief from as far off as Montana.  Catastrophes like Katrina always bring out both the worst and best in people", said Raul.

"With roads still impassable and fuel in short supply, airlift is the best means of getting aid into the stricken areas right now. We urge the entire aviation community to do what they can to help alleviate the situation - it's difficult to comprehend the conditions if you haven't experienced a major hurricane."

Local charities in the Baton Rouge area organized scout troops, religious, and civic organizations to assist in unloading and conveying relief supplies to their ultimate destinations.

Avionica, Inc. specializes in complete flight data management solutions. Products include secureLINK, the airborne wireless Ethernet router, the miniQAR, the world’s first miniature quick access flight data recorder, the RSU, a handheld flight-data recorder monitoring and download tool, and AVSCAN.flight, a commercial and military flight data analysis tool.

Flight Explorer is the world's most trusted and accepted provider of Internet-based real-time global flight tracking information, reporting and display products. Utilizing extensive and expanding global data sources, Flight Explorer tracks flights through a variety of methods worldwide.