Hurricane Katrina evacuation from New Orleans

From: Bonnie Hirschberg [mailto:bch613@cox.net ]

I am sending this out because I think that it is good to hear a story
from someone who has been there (other than the news). I think that
this not only reflects the “Delta spirit”, but also the human spirit.
Have a great day!

Bonnie
===============
Retired Captain Dave Mattingly's account..........

Dave, last weekend I was unexpectedly involved with Delta in the
Hurricane Katrina evacuation from New Orleans and wanted to share my
experience and observations with my fellow retired Delta pilots.

Friday, Sept. 2nd, I was in the GO (Delta’s General Offices) changing
some of my insurance when I remembered a request that Ron Stowe (use
caution when responding to requests from Ron J) posted on the DP3
website requesting volunteers to man the phones for a few hours in
the Operations Control Center (OCC) to help our fellow employees
affected by Katrina. Since I was in the neighborhood, I went to the
OCC and was wandering around trying to find the right volunteer desk
when a call came in from someone (I believe the Air Transport
Association) asking if and how many aircraft Delta could provide for
the evacuation. They said the commitment would be for 30 days with
the government being able to cancel with a 24 hour notification.

Joe Kolshak, Tracey Bevington--the Manager of Charter Operations (I
don’t think she had been to bed since the original evacuation
flight--24 hrs before), the Manager of the OCC and other people I
didn’t know conferred for about 20 seconds and then said Delta would
provide six aircraft and crews. None of the people involved mentioned
that we were broke or asked if Delta was going to get paid or how
much---rather it was that people were hurting and Delta would help.

I told Tracey that I was a retired L-1011 pilot and part time
pharmacist at Walgreens and asked if she needed help. She said she
needed protective medical gear for the crews flying into New Orleans
and had been having trouble trying to get the supplies. I called the
District Office of Walgreens in Atlanta and told them what we needed.
They called back within 5 minutes and said they would provide what
ever and as much as we needed for the crews and were at that very
time beginning to pull all the rubber gloves, masks and antibacterial
cleansers from the shelves in several of their stores and boxing them
for the flight to San Antonio (I have been blessed to have worked for
two awesome companies.)

Arriving in San Antonio (SAT) early Saturday morning with the crew
medical supplies, I called Tracey at the OCC and asked her where she
wanted them. She then told me that they had major problems with
transportation because the transportation company was using their
vans for FEMA and asked if I would rent a 15 passenger van and start
driving. I have to admit that as I climbed in the van I thought to
myself; my company may go broke, I may lose my pension and I have
just put a $3,800.00 charge on my AMEX card---I am not improving my
position!

Driving the “evacuation transport” gave me the opportunity to see and
talk to a lot of the onsite Delta people sent to Texas to support the
airlift. There was maintenance, ACS, charter coordinators, CSA’s,
ticket counter staff, ops people, station manager’s staff, flight
crews and others that I may have forgotten. Most of the Delta people
had been up for two days with only 1-2 hours sleep and were
exhausted. There was a constant flow of Delta people between the SAT
airport, Kelly AFB and the Crockett Hotel. During this time the
airlift was constantly changing, as evacuation sites filled up,
requiring the Delta people, although totally exhausted, to turn on a
dime.

In the latter part of Saturday afternoon the Lackland Evacuation
Center (Kelly AFB) started to fill and flights began to be sent to
Austin. In the early hours of Sunday, Texas decided they could not
take any more people and the OCC moved to open the New Orleans to
Atlanta (Dobbins ARB) air- bridge. This necessitated getting everyone
up (many who had just gotten to bed after being up for two days) to
board a ferry flight departing at 6:30AM to Austin to pick up the
evacuation aircraft for the flights to New Orleans. The company
boarded more food for the evacuees than these aircraft have probably
seen in the last five years and then we were off to MSY.

Before going to Texas I had been watching a lot of the news coverage
so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect in the
disaster area, but I wasn’t anywhere close to reality. It was like
trying to get your arms around hell. Even though I had spent 30 years
flying into New Orleans (MSY), I had trouble picking out landmarks on
our arrival because of all the water and missing buildings. The only
thing that looked the same was the runway. The inside of the terminal
looked like it had been sacked. It was strewn with trash and
discarded personal items and it seemed like feces was everywhere
because of the people being sick. There were dead bodies in the lobby
waiting for refrigerated trucks. It was worse than anything I have
seen in 3rd world countries when I was flying “The Flying Hospital”
L-1011 aircraft and we saw some bad stuff.

Bad as the material damage was it didn’t compare to what the people
went through. When we arrived, the recovery effort was in full force
with people being pulled off of rooftops and out of the water by the
helicopters. The helicopters were then making parallel approaches on
both sides of runway 27 and landing about every 20 seconds---the
operation was massive.

After landing the people were immediately brought to the airport.
After a cursory security check they were boarded on our aircraft.
Probably 95% of the evacuees had never flown before. It is almost
impossible to describe the terrible shape they were in. An hour
before they got on our airplane most of these people were on rooftops
or in the water and many had not had food or water for up to five
days. All the evacuees had a dazed look - it was like they were
looking through you. One man boarded in just his boxer shorts (all he
had left.) Many people were barefoot An elderly crippled man had the
bottom 12 inches broken off of his artificial leg and was hobbling
trying to walk. People were boarding with dogs of various sizes --
most with only a piece of rope around their neck. One 80 year old
grandmother had climbed to 3 different roof tops to be rescued.

As the people got on, they continually asked us where we were taking
them. Many of the people had been separated from their families and
were asking if we had any knowledge of their relative’s location and
wanted to give us their phone number in case we had their family on
another flight. Several of the evacuees with mental conditions who
had not had their medications for several days were going through an
additional hell. It broke everyone’s heart to see any human being in
this shape, let alone Americans.

Toward the end of our boarding, the 2nd Delta aircraft pulled in
behind us. As we taxied out through all the military traffic and took
off with our load of people and animals, we resembled Noah’s ark more
than an airliner. It would have been appropriate for the inscription
that is on the Statue of Liberty to have been painted on the side of
our aircraft.

On the flight to Dobbins ARB the smell in the cabin was almost
unbearable. These poor people had been pulled from filth and had not
had the opportunity to clean up, When we tried to cool the cabin down
to help with the smell, people started shivering because most of them
were sick and in some stage of shock. As we were dropping into
Dobbins and the evacuees were looking out the window at their “new
home.” I wondered what they were thinking.

In contrast to the confusion in MSY, the folks at Dobbins were
“standing tall”. The governor came on board and made a short PA
welcoming them to Georgia and telling them they were our new
“brothers and sisters” and we were going to put our arms around them
and help them repair their lives. Hopefully, as they walked down our
steps to the ramp they were walking into a better life.

As turmoil has swirled around our airline, I had often wondered what
it is like there now. As a retiree, I felt like I could walk around
the tent and hear the noise, but I didn't know what was actually
happening inside. Many of you have expressed the same thoughts. I
have often wondered if the people still think the same way we did -
do they share the same set of traditions and values we had when we
worked for Delta - if I went back to work, would I recognize my
company.

Through a fluke, I was fortunate to spend three days inside the tent
interfacing with employees from a cross-section of departments, from
management down. I have confidence that what I saw was the average
Delta employee and not an anomaly. Let me assure you, you have done a
good job of handing down the traditions and values of Delta to this
3rd generation, just as the 1st generation handed them down to us.
What I saw were Delta people working, caring and giving to
others---just like “the old Delta” I knew. I saw management
committing resources. OCC people working to exhaustion (hopefully
Tracey has been to bed by now.) Pilots waiving their contract, so as
to keep flying, doing whatever it takes to get the people to a safe
place.

Flight attendants possibly exposing themselves to Hepatitis-A and
dysentery by hugging the evacuees and helping them to walk as they
boarded---while not wearing the available rubber gloves---because
they did not want the evacuees to think we regarded them as aliens or
outcasts. Because of the kindness, gentleness and respect shown to
the evacuees by all Delta employees, be it ground personnel,
mechanics, customer service, charter coordinators or flight crews,
the evacuees were being given back a sense of human dignity on their
long road to recovery.

Through out this operation the quirky, irreverent Delta sense of
humor that we all loved was alive and well and got us through some
rough spots. I still chuckle when I think of Walter Goodwin (was a
manager in the Atlanta Chief Pilot’s Office for many years and now a
charter coordinator) looking over at me with a big grin at some point
in the chaos and saying, “Mattingly, it took us 31 years, but we are
finally getting some work out of you.” Gosh I miss those times.

Just before we took off for Dobbins, I was standing on the ramp at
MSY and could not help but notice how the two tall B-757’s tails
carrying the bright Delta colors stood out amid a mottled sea of
green, grey and brown military aircraft and debris. They must have
looked like two beacons of hope to the evacuees as they boarded.

It’s easier for a company to be generous and compassionate when the
company is doing well and making money, but it is a true test of a
company’s character to offer to take care of the less fortunate when
that company itself is bleeding to death and in need of life support.
Standing on that New Orleans ramp and looking up at those two Delta
aircraft, I experienced the same overwhelming feeling of pride in
what Delta stands for as the day I first pinned a set of Delta wings
on that black and gold uniform. Know that the Delta heart -- its
employees -- is as strong and good as ever.

In some ways we are akin to the evacuees as they face an unknown
future, for we as Delta employees are also looking at uncertainty as
we enter this new phase of our corporate lives -- Bankruptcy.
Hopefully God will look on Delta and her people with the same
compassion that we extended to the refugees in New Orleans.

I pray that God will take special care of each of you as we begin
this uncharted flight!

Dave Mattingly
Captain, L-1011 (Retired)

P.S. I may be wrong, but I believe that Delta operated more
evacuation flights than any other air line.

================
THERE IS PROOF....
The Bankruptcy of the United States
The Bank of England, the Banks of Europe, the Banks of the USA that make up the
Non-Government organization known as the Fed and the bankers themsel.
HTTP://www.apfn.net/Doc-100_bankruptcy.htm