Angel Flight Southeast Recognizes Top Pilots for their Efforts

Angel Flights
Angel Flights

Three South Florida volunteer pilots will be honored for transporting patients to far-from-home medical appointments.

Leesburg Fla. (March 16, 2015) – For someone facing a life-threatening illness, the prospect of getting specialized treatment is daunting. Especially when that specialized care is only available hundreds of miles from home.

 A tremendous amount of preparation and coordination is needed and can be further complicated when the life-saving treatment leaves the patient with debilitating side effects. These patients need angels to help them survive and Greg Banfield, David Rivero and Fouad “Sam” Samaha are ready for the task.

 Banfield, Rivero and Samaha volunteer with Angel Flight Southeast (http://www.angelflightse.org), donating their time, personal aircraft and fuel to fly patients to life-saving medical appointments that otherwise would be too far away or too costly.

 The three men will be honored on Friday, April 10, 2015 at the Dr. Norris Pilot Awards Gala for Angel Flight Southeast, to be held in West Palm Beach, Florida, for their dedication to the organization and the patients they serve.

 They each are being recognized as honorees for the “Pilot of the Year” Award for the South Florida region, the highest honor for Angel Flight Southeast Pilots. Additional awards will be given to select pilots, including a “Rookie Pilot Award” for pilots who recently joined the organization, a “Transplant Award” for the pilot in the region who has flown the most number of transplant-related flights and “Above and Beyond” for pilots who assist with fundraising and non-flying volunteer efforts.

Greg Banfield, who flies a Piper Twin Comanche is based out of Witham Field in Stuart. He has been flying for Angel Flight Southeast since 2010 and resides in Palm City.

 David Rivero who flies a Grumman Cheetah, is based out of Tamiami Executive Airport and was the 2013 “Pilot of the Year.” He has been an Angel Flight Southeast pilot since 2012 and resides in Kendall.

Foaud “Sam” Samaha, who flies a Cessna, is based out of Key West. He has been flying Angel Flight Southeast trips since 2005 and resides in Key West.

Fouad (Sam) Samaha of Key West thinks nothing of dropping everything to help someone in need. A private pilot, Samaha has donated his time, plane and fuel to help patients seeking the services of Angel Flight Southeast get to their medical appointments.

 “Our pilots may be scheduled to fly a local patient to medical appointments any day of the week; sometimes being called to fly in the middle of the night. Sometimes multiple flights are coordinated for both legs of the trip requiring precise timing with the pilots,” said Steve Purello, CEO of Angel Flight Southeast which is based in Leesburg, Florida. “We are able to help save many lives because of the dedication and generosity of these volunteers.”

 Angel Flight Southeast seeks sponsors and attendees for the Dr. Norris Pilot Awards Gala & Golf Classic for Angel Flight Southeast Tournament, to be held April 10-11th, at the Madison Green Golf Club, in West Palm Beach. For information about the event or to learn more abo

ut Angel Flight Southeast, please call 352-326-0761 or visit http://www.angelflightse.org/events

 About Angel Flight Southeast

Angel Flight Southeast, Inc. is a non-profit volunteer pilot organization that provides free air transportation throughout Florida by private aircraft to distant medical facilities when commercial air service is not available, impractical or simply not affordable. Angel Flight Southeast is a member of Air Charity Network, an association of charitable aviation organizations comprised of more than 7,500 pilots and who represent over 90% of all charitable non-emergency flights flown in the nation. Angel Flight Southeast has won the seal of approval from Independent Charities of America recognizing Angel Flight Southeast as a good steward of the funds it generates from the public.

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