Medical Plane Avoids Collision Over Haiti
A U.S. government plane carrying medical personnel into Haiti was diverted to another Caribbean island Thursday night after getting caught in the backwash of a plane landing at the crowded Port-au-Prince airport.
NPR's Joanne Silberner, who was on board the plane, said the incident caused the aircraft's engine to stall, though the pilot managed to stabilize it. Later, the plane was running low on fuel when it developed cabin pressure problems. That's when the pilot decided to divert the plane to Providenciales, one of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The disaster medical assistance teams — doctors, pharmacists, computer specialists, nurses — aim to set up and run several hospitals once they arrive in Haiti, Silberner said.
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DEBORAH AMOS, host:
NPR's Joanne Silberner is traveling with medical rescue workers headed to Haiti, but she and they are not there yet. Last night, their plane was in a near miss above the crowded airport in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. Her plane was diverted and she joins us from another Caribbean island. Good morning.
JOANNE SILBERNER: Good morning.
AMOS: Why couldn't you make it into Haiti?
SILBERNER: Well, last night, on the approach to the airport, there were too many planes coming in. We got caught in the backwash of another plane, the engine stalled. The pilot managed to pull us out of it. We headed up and away. Then we had some problems with cabin pressure and not a whole lot of fuel to keep on trying these attempts, so we came here.
AMOS: So, where did you end up?
SILBERNER: We ended up in Providenciales. And that's an island that's part of the Turks and Caicos.
AMOS: Who are you with?
SILBERNER: I'm with a couple of elite, well-trained groups, disaster medical assistance teams. And what they're going to do is, when we get there, set up and run several hospitals. So, they're doctors, nurses, pharmacists, computer guys and the like.
But I have to tell you that this near miss did not faze this group. They're looking forward to getting up and going. They're very anxious to get there.
AMOS: Joanne Silberner, not quite in Haiti yet, and I guess we'll hear more from you once the medical teams and you get to Haiti.
SILBERNER: Yes.
AMOS: Thank you.
SILBERNER: Thank you.
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AMOS: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
