Pilots Give 230-Pound Sea Turtle a Ride to its New Home

Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 08:59 PM ET

Verified

The turtle’s crate was loaded into the Pilatus PC-12NG, thanks to the aircraft’s four-and-a-half-foot wide cargo door. Courtesy: Turtles Fly Too/David W. Hartman

Key Takeaways:

Volunteer pilots Al and Susan Simmons successfully airlifted Matthew, a 230-pound injured sea turtle, 1,039 miles from a Florida rescue facility to a rehabilitation center in Texas.
This transport was organized by "Turtles Fly Too," a non-profit that connects volunteer pilots and aircraft to move endangered species requiring long-distance travel.
Since its founding in 2014, Turtles Fly Too has enlisted over 380 volunteer pilots to transport more than 4,000 sea turtles and other endangered animals across the U.S.