Cessna Seaplane Pilots Save Lives in Papua New Guinea

Samaritan Aviation seaplane medevac service helps save thousands of lives in Papua New Guinea.

Tuesday, August 02, 2022 at 09:22 AM ET

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Samaritan Aviation’s Mark Palm pilots the non-profit’s recently acquired Cessna 206 during last week’s EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. [Photo: Thom Patterson]

Key Takeaways:

Samaritan Aviation provides a critical medical and healthcare lifeline to 120 remote villages in Papua New Guinea using a fleet of modified Cessna 206 seaplanes.
The Christian nonprofit conducts emergency flights for conditions like pregnancies, snake bites, and injuries, significantly reducing travel time to hospitals and saving thousands of lives.
Pilots undergo intensive bush flying and seaplane training to navigate extremely challenging conditions, including rapidly changing river levels, dense altitude, and severe weather.
Founder Mark Palm was driven by a deep, faith-based personal commitment and his aviation background to address the lack of timely medical access in the remote region.

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The EAA Seaplane Base on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin, is far from the remote rainforest of Papua New Guinea, where a pilot and an airplane can mean the difference between life and death.

But that’s where FLYING found Mark Palm, CEO and co-founder of Samaritan Aviation, whose tiny fleet of Cessna 206 seaplanes and staff—including six pilots—serve as a medical and healthcare lifeline for 120 villages in the nation located north of Australia.