Portland, Ore.-based TEC Equipment has completed its mission to get a team of seven doctors, nurses and health professionals from Medical Teams International to Haiti.
TEC Equipment President and CEO Dave Thompson piloted the flight carrying the medical professionals, and landed safely in Haiti Thursday morning. (Photo courtesy of TEC Equipment)
TEC Equipment President and CEO Dave Thompson piloted the flight carrying the medical professionals, and landed safely in Haiti Thursday morning. (Photo courtesy of TEC Equipment)
The Volvo and Mack dealer offered up its corporate jet to fly the team to the earthquake-torn country, and President and CEO Dave Thompson landed successfully at Port-au-Prince airport in Haiti Thursday morning.

"The landing went well," said Thompson. "The airport is in bad condition but things are organized and extremely busy. The volunteers from Medical Teams International thanked us for our donation of transport, jumped into a waiting truck and they were off to action."

In addition to piloting the plane, Thompson had accepted another mission: he was given two hours to find an orphan girl that a Portland couple had adopted just days before the earthquake hit Jan. 12. Unfortunately, Thompson was unable to make contact with officials in Haiti.

"I had to stay with the jet and was not allowed to leave the airport," he said. "Without telephones I had no way of reaching anybody to learn more."

He was, however, able to return with two U.S. citizens and four Haitian children. He will take them to officials waiting at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., airport before continuing his return trip to Portland.

After leaving Oregon Wednesday morning, the small, nine-seat Cessna Citation Encore business-class jet stopped to re-fuel in Wellington, Kansas, before completing the first leg of the journey with an overnight stay in Fort Lauderdale. The crew then flew into Haiti.

When the earthquake first hit, TEC's employees started making individual contributions, but the company wanted to do more. When word got all the way up to Thompson, he decided the company should use its corporate plane.

Meanwhile, the company's 400 or so employees across 12 locations donated money to pay for the jet's round-trip flight, which requires 4,000 gallons of jet fuel, start-up costs, and various fees. TEC has committed to matching their donations, dollar for dollar, and so far employees alone have raised $15,000 for the cause, which is $30,000 with the match. The total cost of the flight is around $35,000.

To read about what other companies in the trucking industry are doing to help Haiti, click here.


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