Page 15 - Dec 2022

David (right) and another Pine Island resident, unloading an OAD airplane. Johnson had read an article about the island being cut off from help when the barrier island’s bridge was destroyed by Hurricane Ian and set up an OAD mission to bring them much-needed supplies.
“When David said ‘You gaveushope’ itbrought tears to my eyes.”
hit southwestern Florida. Early on a Monday morning, after a long day of flying his King Air to get from Texas to Florida and then flying an OAD mission, Johnson was reading a Wall Street Journal article about the 9,000 residents of Pine Island being cut off from help when the barrier island’s bridge was destroyed by the hurricane. He emailed the journalist who wrote the article to get a contact name and number on Pine Island.
“Not realizing it was 6:30 in the morning, I called the number and David groggily answered. He quickly woke up when I said I had a fleet of airplanes with supplies to deliver to Pine Island,” Johnson said. “A couple of hours later we landed three planes on a 2,600-foot grass strip, and David and a couple of his friends met us with pickup trucks. When David said ‘You gave us hope’ it brought tears to my eyes.”
“Over the next few days we delivered approximately 15,000 pounds of supplies directly to people in need on Pine Island with general aviation aircraft all piloted by volunteers.” KA
DECEMBER 2022
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 13