Oct. 16, 2024
In his full-time job as NBAA’s Senior Director for Airport Advocacy and Vertical Infrastructure, Alex Gertsen, CAM, works to protect community airports as vital national infrastructure.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the essential role of those facilities – and Gertsen’s ability to use them to fly relief missions to locations in the storm’s devastating wake – became critically important.
“I’ve been very passionate about aviation since I can remember,” Gertsen said. “I’ve had my pilot certificate for over 20 years and currently own a Mooney. My work focus is on how business aviation connects with airports, and ensuring they continue to be safe and accessible. For business aviation to achieve its objectives, we need to be able to reach all 5,000 public use airports in the United States, and in a situation like this, wherever disaster strikes, we can leverage this valuable, readily available, aviation infrastructure to quickly help those in need.
“Learning about so many people cut-off from the essentials they need to survive due to the destruction of roads and bridges in the wake of Helene, I found myself in a unique position to use the airplane, coupled with my piloting skills, to help,” Gertsen continued. “Knowing that we would be using the general aviation airports that I advocate for through my work at NBAA made the effort even more meaningful and compelling,” he added.
Gertsen partnered with Miranda Barrett, a former White House Travel Office colleague and longtime friend who is originally from Hendersonville, NC, an area impacted by Helene, where her parents and brother still reside. Through social media, Barrett was able to raise nearly $5,000 in just 48 hours toward the much-needed supplies. Ending up with more than what one plane could carry, Gertsen invited fellow pilot Luis Quiñones, to also join in flying the necessities from Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) in Gaithersburg, MD, to Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) in Asheville, NC.
Barrett’s parents and a friend from elementary school days greeted the airplanes upon arrival in Asheville to transfer and deliver the supplies to Hendersonville. The hugs were that much tighter, as Barrett recalled the feeling of not being able to reach them for an extended period after the storm ravaged the area the previous week, cutting off communications.
“For me, the personal connection with Miranda, enabling her to see her family and friends and the knowledge that the supplies were going directly to help her community, and not just be delivered to a hangar, made this flight that much more meaningful,” Gertsen added. “It takes a lot for us to stay current and proficient as pilots, for our aircraft to be maintained and mission ready and for the airports we rely on to be available and operational – so many factors have to come together to make these types of missions possible.”
After Asheville, Gertsen and Barrett made a short hop to Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (JQF) in Concord, NC, to load the Mooney with more supplies, this time in support of the Operation Airdrop, a Texas-based 501(c)(3) focused on matching aviation assets with communities impacted by natural disasters.
Flying the supplies into Rutherford County Airport/Marchman Field (FQD) in Rutherfordton, NC exposed them to yet another poignant experience. Joining the conga line of numerous aircraft orderly transitioning from self-spacing in the traffic pattern, at this non-towered airport, to the fast-moving line for unloading, they were greeted by the daisy chain of smiling volunteers quickly and efficiently moving the essentials from the planes into the trucks labeled “Disaster Relief” in large letters.
“Over the years we accumulate a lot of flights in our logbooks, however the eight-point-two flight hours I logged from this day and the airports we landed at will certainly stand out in their own category,” said Gertsen.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.