Venezuela: Search Continues for Missing Medical Missionary Plane BY LIBNA STEVENS, news coordinator, Inter-America Division [ See Original Story ] Pilot Robert Norton with his wife Neiba lead out the Adventist Medical Aviation based in Gran Sabana, Venezuela. [photo: courtesy of AMA] Adventist search teams continue looking for a medical missionary plane which went missing on Monday February 16 in the jungles of La Gran Sabana in southeastern Venezuela. The Cessna 182N plane, piloted by Robert Norton, who volunteers for the Adventist Medical Aviation (AMA) in Venezuela, is believed to have hit turbulent weather after taking off from the community of Carun en route to Bethel. Also in the plane were six passengers: Neiba Norton, wife of the pilot, Gladis Zerpa an Adventist teacher, a woman accompanying a 14-year-old, and a woman traveling with her young son. "Our church is really distraught about the news of this tragedy," said Rodolfo Escobar, communication director for Venezuela-Antilles Union Mission. Escobar said church members in Gran Sabana began searching for the missing plane as soon as they heard the news. The National Civil Aviation Institute and several air rescue and non-government organizations immediately began their search but were forced to stop after 72 hours. The search continued Thursday with contracted rescue organizations. "We are running out of money to pay for the rescue planes but are trusting that God will provide what we need to find our people," Escobar said. Search operations will continue as long as funds are available, he added. The search continues for the Adventist Medical Aviation Cessna 182N plane which went missing Feb. 16, 2009 in the jungles...
Very early on Monday morning, February 16, 2009 the AMA Venezuela plane took off and headed north toward Ciudad Bolivar. Experienced mission pilot Bob Norton has been flying in southeast Venezuela for 8 years. His wife Neiba usually stays at home, but this time she accompanied her husband. The plane landed briefly at the village of Karum, possibly to pick up patients. Bob called the radio operator at his next stop, the village of Bethel to ask about weather conditions and give an ETA (estimated time of arrival). The weather was stormy, but Bob had been flying in stormy weather quite often without any mishaps. But this time the airplane disappeared, possibly somewhere in the dense jungle along the route traced below. During the flight between Karum and Bethel, Bob called the Bethel radio operator. But the message was garbled, and nobody understood what was being said. When the plane did not arrive at Bethel as expected, aviation authorities were notified. Search parties by air and by ground were organized, but many days went by and there was no sign of the plane or its passengers. Gladys Zerpa (left), teacher and administrator of Colgransa Adventist boarding school was in the plane when it disappeared. Also on board was a 14-year-old girl and a newborn baby, each accompanied by a parent. Friends of the Nortons and AMA Venezuela arranged with Google Earth to do a high definition satellite scan of the area, and many volunteers are looking for any possible signs of the missing plane. Thousands of people in Venezuela have been helped by Bob and Neiba's ministry. Many lives...
Hi Everyone, It finally quit raining and we've started into a very late dry season, I thought when we'd had two sunny days in a row. I was wrong, because every day it continues raining, which makes for muddy strips. Many have lots of water standing on them, which is very wearing when I have to splash down a dozen times or so. We've been making progress taking medical help into the villages, as our plan from the beginning has been to help the ailing before their sickness becomes life threatening and they have to go to a hospital. At times I've thought we'd never make this goal. However, the head of various health departments have been replaced by people who want to work with us to help the Indians, so I'm able to fly doctors into the villages now. People in a small village collected these bags of clothes to send to another village in need. When there are many sick in a village they call Celso, our radio operator and flight coordinator, asking that he please send a doctor. Then we ask around among those doctors willing to go until one agrees. He'll tell me, "I'll go tomorrow." Well, when tomorrow comes he says, "I can't go until I get some medicines, perhaps tomorrow." And so it goes, day after day, sometimes for weeks, until some doctor has meds and is ready. Then I fly him out to the village who called for help. Whether I stay to bring the doctor home depends on how far away the village is, and how many patients need care. Sometimes...
When I got up Friday morning I thought it would be an easy day. I had only one flight scheduled, patients to return to Awarauka and then a 20 minute hop over to Kamarata to pick up a woman with pregnancy problems who needed to be in the hospital. Just as I was getting the airplane ready to leave, Celso came by. "I just had a call from Vista Alegre. There is a very sick baby who needs a flight." "Okay, I'll go to Vista Alegre first," I told him, "taking a load of patients who have been waiting for a flight home to Wonken for several days. Then I'll head out for Awarauka and Kamarata." After landing in Wonken with three passengers who were very happy to be home, I headed to Vista Alegre. The weather was not good with rain everywhere. I dropped down into the little valley, picked up the mother and her sick baby and then took off for Santa Elena. Just one more round, I thought, as I lit at Santa Elena. The weather was worsening. For weeks we've had nothing but rain; it just won't stop! As I took off with well patients to leave in Awarauka and Weneweneken I had to fly mostly with my vision fixed upon the instrument panel. I wondered if I'd be able to land at Awarauka, but figured if I couldn't I'd fly down the river to Uriman and let them go on home by boat the following day. But, what about those whose home was Weneweneken? As I considered my options Celso called me on the...
Everyone needs a day off once in a while just to relax, breathe in and out, and try to keep some kind of sanity. Well, I had one planned, the first day I'd taken off in months, and was really looking forward to Sunday. I'd been invited to the Motocross Race—not to race, but to take part in some of the events and they'd asked me to fly my parasail. This was going to be a nice break from my daily work and lots of fun! When Sunday morning came I had one flight to Parqupi to take out a medical team and deliver some medicines. I'd still be back in plenty of time for the races. Unfortunately the med team was late coming to the plane, which put me behind an hour. I figured I'd still be there in good time and enjoy my day off. I was nearly home after making the flight when a call came in for help. A young man in the village of Wonken had a broken arm. I couldn't just leave him suffering, so headed out again thinking, if all goes well I'll just be gone another hour and fifteen minutes. When I lit at Wonken the patient wasn't at the strip so I had to wait and wait. Finally he arrived, but as I was helping him into the airplane he told me, "I didn't get the reference paper." (Each village that has a nurse, or someone serving in some medical capacity, writes a paper with a diagnosis, treatment they have given, and information for the doctor.) So I waited some...
Greetings to our Friends and Family, Recently I headed out to the little village of San Jose de Tuauken, about a 30 minute flight north. It may be a funny sounding name, but it's a pretty place at 4,000 foot elevation, which also makes it a bit cooler temperature. This time I was flying in a medical team because many of the children were sick. Finding medical personal willing to fly out to treat villagers is difficult, and coming up with needed medicines is even harder. After many hours of searching we finally found enough medications to treat the sick in this one village. Here we are crossing the river from the airstrip to the village of Tuauken. This is the second time for me to land at the Tuauken strip. The villagers had asked me, "Will you land at our village and bring us help if we make a strip?" Of course I said, "Yes." They quickly set to work, and a few days later the strip was ready for me to land--almost finished. The medical team set up clinic inside this school building. Everyone wants to see what is going on. The medical professionals assess and treat the sick, grateful for the AMA plane which now can bring help to their village. The first time I landed in Tuauken it was a happy occasion. I'd been flying a group of gift givers to several villages, and this was our last stop of the day. These people had clothes and toys to share with the Indian children. In each village those in charge had the children line up...
Greetings to our AMA Family, On a recent Friday afternoon I had finished the day's flights and decided to catch up on the grounds. With a large area of grass to cut, rake, and carry away it takes a lot of time. It was threatening to rain; thunderstorms were scattered on all sides, but maybe I could get this job done. I'd just hopped on the mower and began cutting the grass when Celso walked up. His presence indicated I would be making yet another flight this day, so I prayed the call was from a nearby village. "I couldn't get you on the radio," he said, "so I figured you'd be outside. The villages of Yunik and Warama have called. In Warama someone has been snake bit, and the person in Yunik has gotten bit by a spider." Both villages are within a 35 minutes from our base, so I'd have time to make the flight before dusk. We walked to the hanger and drained some of the fuel from the tanks. I'd not landed in Warama for a long time, but remembered it to be a bad strip with some really big humps. As I checked over the airplane I decided to go there first, and then fly on to Yunik. After a 20 minute flight I circled over the strip taking a good look. It's a challenging strip, one I've never liked. Short, with several very big humps in it which make landing and taking off difficult. I saw a dozen people still working on the strip. They'd cut the taller grass, but done nothing to...
Dear Friends, One day Celso came and told me, "We have a little problem." I thought of all the problems we deal with, so wondered what he had in mind."Tell them that if there are no emergency flights in the morning I will come in the morning," I agreed, happy to "fix" this problem. For a long time we've been trying to find someone to help Celso with the radio operation and flight following so he could take time off. No one seemed willing to do this job, so Celso trained his 10-year-old son, Jose Antonio, to operate the radio. Jose fills in when his Dad has to be away, and is doing a great job. "What would that be?" I asked. Smiling he replied, "Well, we have two more people who want to work with AMA." "Good," I answered, "Where are they?" Celso began his story. "I was sitting at the radio one day recently when my youngest son Karuan came asking for 3,000 Bolivars (about one dollar). I asked him, "What do you need the money for?" "I just need it to buy something. I understand we don't spend money on things we don't need. I'm not going to buy candy or anything like that, but I need to buy something." "All right, here you are," I said, handing him the requested money. Karuan left for the little village store to buy a notebook. He wanted to log the flights and the patients coming in for treatment and those ready to return home. However, the boy discovered the notebook he needed cost 4,000 Bolivars, and he only...
Dear Friends, Thank you for your prayers for the little girl who was snake bit on her hand. She was in the hospital at Boavista in Brazil for several weeks, but has been released to go home. Praise God for His healing! Thank God I could fly her out for medical help! Let me share this story from a recent experience. I was on my way back home from San Francisco with a patient and stopped in Kamarata to pick up another patient. (The photo at left is loading the patient I picked up first.) As I softly touched down and the nose wheel grabbed the ground I immediately knew the tire was very low. I quickly shut down the engine and climbed out to have a look. Sure enough, the tire was almost flat. Now what should I do? I had only an hour of time before I'd have to leave in order to make it back to Santa Elena before dark. The patients needed to be at the hospital. Asking someone to find me a tire pump I prayed that God would help me to somehow patch the tire so I could take off and land. Then I waited . . .and waited . . . and waited. By the time someone arrived with the tire pump I had only a few minutes before I must leave. If they'd only come quickly with the pump I'd have had an hour to work on this project, I thought. Hurriedly I pumped up the tire, then checked it for a leak by pouring water over it. No matter how...
Dear Friends, As we drove toward Miami, headed home to Venezuela, it was with mixed feelings. Yes, it would be good to be home, but how much we miss being able to spend time with our sons and dropping in to visit friends, which we enjoy while in the US. Our trip down was good, and now I'm back making flights—touching the lives of people who need help. In the past several weeks some I've flown out for medical help have recovered and been able to return home. Today I want to tell you about Elizabeth. It was back in 2003 that the director of the Adventist school here at our base asked if I could pick up two girls from San Francisco who wished to attend school. "Sure," I told him. The next time I had flights that direction I notified the person closest to their home that I'd be coming. I got word that the girls were waiting, but when I arrived they weren't at the airstrip. After inquiring around I discovered that the message had not reached the girls and they lived in a different village. I had to leave without them. Some time later I made arrangements to pick them up, but upon arriving at the nearest airstrip I learned they had left and wouldn't be back for several days. Time passed, and once again I was asked to go after these two girls. "Get them to San Francisco and keep them there until I arrive to pick them up," I told the school director. A few days later I was told that the girls...
