NBAA Activates HERO Database as Industry Readies Melissa Relief Efforts

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has activated its Humanitarian Emergency Response Operator (HERO) Database in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa’s devastating blow to the island nation of Jamaica.

The database is a list people in the business aviation community who are part of disaster-response mobilization efforts, whose basic information is provided to organizations coordinating relief efforts.

Additionally, organizations such as Operation Air Drop, AERObridge, Airlink and others are accepting donations from the business aviation community to assist with current and future relief efforts as they monitor the situation for additional opportunities to help, including airlifting supplies.

As of the evening of Oct. 30, Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport (MKJP) remained the only Jamaican airport open to limited commercial and general aviation operations. That facility lies approximately 525 nautical miles (nm) from Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE).

Doug Carr, NBAA senior vice president of safety, security, sustainability and international operations, noted distance and other factors – including uncertainty about the condition and availability of the airport’s fuel supplies – make longer-range business and commercial aircraft best suited for initial humanitarian operations.

“Additionally, requests for overflight permits to transit Cuban airspace may be delayed,” Carr added. “Operators must also secure necessary permission to fly into Jamaica.”

Disaster response organization Samaritan’s Purse flew 38,000 lbs of supplies, including shelter tarps, solar lights, medical supplies and water filtration systems, onboard its Boeing 757 into Kingston.

Officials are also working to reopen Ian Fleming International Airport (OCJ) in Ocho Rios, 30 nm to the north. The country’s third major airport, Montego Bay-Sangster International Airport (MBJ) “was very badly hit,” said Nari Williams-Singh, director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA).

“[W]e have all hands on deck to get up and running as quickly as possible,” he added in a statement. “We need to collaborate with our airport operators and the Airports Authority of Jamaica; Jamaica Customs Agency; the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency; and all relevant entities. We are all coordinated, because it’s really an ecosystem and we all have to be in sync.”

Melissa made landfall Oct. 28 in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane and the strongest storm ever to hit the country. Media reports indicate more than half a million residents are without power, with communications across the island severely compromised and widespread, extensive damage to roads, homes, hospitals and other facilities and infrastructure.