HUMANITARIAN SERVICE AWARD For outstanding service in using helicopters to provide aid to those in need MD Helicopters Navajo Nation COVID Relief Missions, Mesa, Arizona, USA
When the coronavirus pandemic began sweeping across the United States in 2020, the Navajo Nation quickly experienced the country’s highest per-capita rate of infections and deaths. Located mainly in Northeast Arizona, the reservation also expands into the high desert of Southeastern Utah and Northwestern New Mexico. Te Navajo Nation’s nearly 300,000-member population is spread throughout the 27,000-square-mile reservation. Many
members lack utilities and live in communal groups far from modern medical facilities. It can take hours to reach some members of the tribe by vehicle. As the pandemic raged, the Navajo Nation was forced to close its borders to outsiders, including supply trucks, to reduce spread. “Early on, we wanted to do something to help,” MD
Helicopters COO Chris Jaran says. “We had helicopters, and the unanimous support from our leadership board, to volunteer our time, pilots, fuel, and maintenance to fly supplies into the Navajo Nation.” Jaran began reaching out to organizations offering
helicopter support. Te Veterans Medical Leadership Council (VMLC) was one of the few with permission to enter the Navajo Nation. Te VMLC immediately took MD up on the offer. “We thought we’d be flying out PPE [personal protective
“Our aircraft are used for life-protecting missions worldwide. It was our honor to step up and do what we could to support these efforts in our own backyard.”
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equipment] and such, but there was a more dire need initially,” Jaran says. “Winter temperatures drop into the 30s there, and many tribal members rely on wood for heating and cooking. Usually, it’s delivered to them. Without the supply trucks, they needed to collect their own wood. Te first load of supplies we flew was chainsaws.” VMLC brought supplies to MD Helicopters’ factory in Mesa, Arizona,
MD Helicopters
that were then flown to the Nation in an MD 902 helicopter. Te first flight, filled with chainsaws to the helicopter’s maximum cargo weight of 900 lb., was to Winslow, Arizona, where the aircraft was topped off with enough fuel to reach any corner of the Nation. For more than a year, MD Helicopters provided nearly weekly deliveries of everything from chainsaws to PPE. While almost every flight delivered critical supplies, one brought pure
joy. In December 2020, most tribal members were sequestered in their homes, missing out on Christmas. So, for its final relief flight, on Jun. 25, 2021, MD Helicopters participated in a Christmas-in-summer operation.
“One of the veterans dressed as Santa, and we stuffed that helicopter with toys and gifts
for all the kids,” Jaran says. “We landed at a reservation airstrip, and a long line of cars was waiting. We handed out gifts and left the rest to be distributed to kids who couldn’t be there. It was a really special day.” To date, MD Helicopters has flown 52 volunteer supply missions to the Navajo Nation, delivering more than 40,000 lb. of supplies and equipment.
MARCH 2022 ROTOR 33
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