Jubal Ellis, a SelectHealth business systems analyst, is a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight, an organization that provides free flights for people in need, and he recently received a unique assignment. He was asked to pilot a flight to Shiprock, New Mexico to deliver needed medical supplies to the Navajo Nation. Because of the recent spike of COVID-19 cases there and the remoteness of the area, medical personnel were having trouble getting the supplies they needed through normal channels, so the wife of a doctor requested help from Angel Flight.
Jubal flew one of three aircraft flying on behalf of Angel Flight headed to Shiprock on May 16 to deliver roughly 650 pounds of needed masks and gowns. One aircraft flew from Spanish Fork, Utah, another came from Phoenix, Arizona, and Jubal’s flight came from Salt Lake City. All three aircraft converged at the remote Shiprock airport, which consists of just one small asphalt landing strip and small ramp in the middle of the desert.
The pilots were met at the airport by representatives of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services who then transported the supplies by car to the medical center in Shiprock.
The roundtrip flight from Salt Lake City to Shiprock took four hours and Jubal says it was time well spent. “We were nothing more than a cargo airline that day, but it was a good flight for a good cause,” he says.