A Flight 4 Their Lives...
Pilots Chris and Corrine McLaughlin have a 16,000-mile journey in front of them to say "thank you" for a special favor. As a way to raise awareness about organ donation and raise help for the United Kingdom's King’s College Hospital Charity, Chris and Corrine will fly their Cessna R172K Hawk XP from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts to Cape Horn at the southern tip of Argentina, beginning in December, 2011.
The husband and wife team have a deep involvement with aviation. Corrine is a purser with British Airways, and private pilot. Chris, until recently, was a Captain on British Airways Boeing 747s, but in early 2010, he almost died from liver and kidney failure due to an unknown childhood exposure to hepatitis.
After many months in intensive care at King’s College Hospital in London, Chris was miraculously given a liver transplant at what could only be described as the last minute. King's College Hospital is one of the top organ transplant and research facilities in the world; Chris feels that he'd most certainly not be here today if it weren't for the incredible team of people there. Corrine had to face this ordeal with absolutely no warning but found out that there is a support structure for family members in these circumstances at the hospital too. As a way to raise awareness of the life-saving work transplant surgeons (and the army of supporters behind them) deliver every day, the pair of pilots will fly lengthy hours over long stretches of open water, Amazonian rainforests, the Andes, and through Antarctic weather. When they reach their southernmost point, they'll reverse course and return to North America.
In their words: "We therefore would like to ask you to assist us through this journey by giving to King's [College Hospital] which is one of the world's foremost transplant and research facilities. Every year, they give the gift of life to hundreds of people. Chris continues: "I’m not quite sure why I made it through my ordeal given how sick I was but maybe this chance to help others in the same desperate situation is why I’m still here." All of the money donated through the links on [their] website will go directly to King's College Hospital Charity. Donations will not be going towards their (Chris' and Corrine's) "holiday". They'll be asking for certain specific donations that pertain to the operating costs of the aircraft, but that will be a separate and non-cash effort (such as donated fuel, maintenance, etc.). They conclude: "Once again, all money donations will go directly to King's College Hospital". They've set up a U.S. 501.c.3 non-profit organization to handle donations in this country, as well as the United Kingdom. For further information and the place to donate on-line, visit www.flight4lives.com.
When will the flight take place? "We want to depart from Nantucket in December of 2011. We'll need a weather window to get south out of winter so hopefully this is all that might cause a slight delay. Our "angle" here is that our little Cessna is a bit small and range limited for such an immense journey. The challenge will be making the journey despite these limitations". How long will it take? "We will not have ferry tanks. Only standard 49-gallon tanks so this will mean frequent fuel stops. And something is bound to break sooner or later. So, we're guessing about three or four weeks down and probably a little longer back. Once underway, we'll try not to have a specific timetable. It's safer that way".
You'll be able to follow their progress here in the Atlantic Flyer with monthly updates on their journey, and you can e-mail them at: chrisflight4lives@gmail.com and/or corrineflight4lives@gmail.com. There might be some other flight following media addresses in the future too.
Ken Kula
