Edge of Night

January 2010

Our lives are filled with light and darkness. A day begins normally and by the end, in Haiti an earthquake lasting under a minute changes lives forever.

Scrambling to provide an answer, our company is pressed into flying to Haiti and providing humanitarian relief supplies. I’ve had trips twice last week and once the week, each one with an awe, a sense of a desperate people now struggling with a disaster.

In Haiti there is one runway, no taxiway, and  the ramp is packed. Air traffic enroute service is handled well by Miami Center.  The local tower controller (5 miles), and ramp controller, are currently staffed by U.S. personnel, probably Air Force.  They are easy to understand and handle the challenge with professional skill. But the approach control which handles 60 miles from Port au Prince until 7 miles, is swamped!  There is no radar, nor was there before the earthquake.  There is one frequency for arrivals, departures, and overflights.   The controller is a local native and many transmissions to the controller are met with, "station calling, say again?".    There isn't time to "say again"!

Our flight last Wednesday had us holding for 30 minutes, starting at 25,000 feet and just 17 miles from the runway, in clear weather.  Two other planes were ahead of us: one was call-sign Shark-xxx, a military C130.   The controller just did the best they could with the overwhelming traffic   But a result was 6,000 pounds of fuel spent due to holding.

An approach to the runway to from the west finds many ships in the harbor: USS Nausau carrier, two cruisers, the white Red Cross floating hospital, to name a few.  By contrast a view to the south on final approach finds concrete houses flatted, tent cities on the street. Our arrival completes and we taxi to the ramp.,behind a Follow-Me jeep.   At the ramp the loaders get to the plane quickly.  The company’s facility is intact but we were parked at the main terminal.  The terminal is without power and this is quite noticeable when the sun goes down.

Unloading was handled on this day by Air Force staff for the equipment, and local Haitians for the movement of pallets.   Supplies arrive and are sent to holding areas.  Do they get distributed?  We hear that corruption is causing interception of goods, eg: tents.  But the rice and beans are getting to people.   Air drops via helicopter and C130 see to that.  But some local gangs get the food and either sell it or keep it for themselves.

What to do?   Our crew takes packages and gives it directly to the loading workers.  I had a bag with 1 pound rice, beans, raisin packages, canned orange segments, and 1 pint water bottles which I gave directly to the loaders while they were inside the plane and away from outside observations.   They gladly accept the goods, drank the water, and put the rice and beans in their cargo pants and fold over the pants covers.  One man consumed the water bottle in 1.5 minutes.

Departing the airport, it was my leg to fly home.  We had a cargo load of only a stack of pallets.  Departing from the ramp we asked for a clearance.  This is usually a re-direct to the Haiti Center controller.  But the local tower controller provided us with a heading and altitude initially.  That was enough.  Procedures get modified to meet the need. During climb-out and passing to the northwest at 8,000 feet, I observed a brush fire and a well-defined perimeter.  What was this about?  We'd read stories about bodies being burned because of the strong odor and no collection service.   We passed the area, observed the fire by myself and the flight engineer, and left the explanation to our imaginations.

Passing northwest of Haiti and then transferred radio contact to Haiti Center, we entered a twilight period.  The sun was down.  Dusk had settled in.  The climbout to 34,000 found the earth's shadow above, and the ground below. We are on the Edge of Night.

People are used to daylight operations.  We wake up, prepare for our jobs, school, housework.   The day passes and then the sun sets.   Dusk falls and night approaches.   For those without artificial lighting, electricity, running water and sewer, life becomes a great challenge.  

Flight crews however, enjoy better airplane identification at night because the wing position lights are well-defined against the dark sky.   The plane you can't see for 5 miles ahead during the day is now quite discernable  at 40 miles.   Nighttime provides a contrast between darkness and points of light:  airplane position lights, stars, or planets.  Points of light become clear against the backdrop of darkness. Aid arrives to the needy.

So too in our lives we search for the identification between our actions and the effects.   We enjoy happiness and light moments, such as with family, friends, fulfilling work, leisure.   But we also experience the darkness when light fades, we loose loved ones, jobs, have ill health, or broken relationships.  

The transition period is  the Edge of Night, as experienced by the flight crew.  We ponder our efforts:  flying vital cargo to support Haitian relief,  enduring flight and ground delays,  unloading cargo and storage, and hoping for a safe delivery to those who desperately need it.

Where do we find our strength and guidance?   A reflection on the chorale anthem provides an answer.

 "Let Us Love in Deed and Truth", by Larry King,

If anyone has the world's goods and sees his neighbor in need.  
Yet closes his heart against him.    How does God's love abide in him?   
Let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth.
By this we shall know that we are of the truth.
We have confidence before our God, and we receive from him whatever we ask,
Because we keep his commandments, and do what pleases him.
And this is His commandment, that we might believe in his Son ,Jesus Christ, and love one another.