Volunteer pilots transport thousands of pounds worth of supplies from Va. to Hurricane Helene victims

Volunteer pilots from across the D.C. area are gathering at Leesburg Executive Airport to bring supplies to Hurricane Helene victims as a part of a nationwide effort called Operation AirDrop.

In Leesburg, Virginia, Kuhn Aviation Vice President of Operations Jon Rooney stands alongside staff in a staging area designed to drop off supplies for victims of Hurricane Helene. (Courtesy Jon Rooney)

Volunteer pilots from across the D.C. area are gathering at Leesburg Executive Airport in Loudoun County, Virginia, to help bring supplies to hurricane-devastated areas in the south as a part of a nationwide effort called Operation AirDrop.

A hangar at Leesburg Airport owned by Kuhn Aviation was transformed into a staging area to drop off supplies. Khun Aviation operations VP Jon Rooney says he came up with the idea to join the effort on Sunday.

“I was watching TV and watching the news, we just cleared out a hanger space. We had a bit of room available. And I said, ‘We could definitely coordinate something and get some bodies together,’” Rooney said.

Using only social media and word of mouth, Rooney and his team recruited around 50 volunteers and several pilots to help out. They have small aircrafts coming from all over Virginia and Maryland including Gaithersburg and Hagerstown.

Donations can be dropped off at Leesburg airport. Rooney says they’ve completed around 20 helicopter trips and nearly 25 plane flights transporting supplies all over Western North Carolina. They plan to have around 50 round-trips completed by the end of the week.

Jonathan Loveless is Chief Pilot at Khun Aviation. He’s done six trips so far.

“A lot of these small towns are down in valleys or up on plateaus. And all of the bridges to access these towns have been washed out. So literally, the only way we can get supplies to them is via airplane,” Loveless said.

Rooney says there’s tons of coordination that goes into the project, but it’s still a very fluid operation.

“We’ve had folks that have reached out directly and it’s unimaginable what they’ve gone through,” Rooney said. “Whenever we hear of someone with a certain need, we’ll send [supplies] directly to that location.”

They plan to run the operation through noon on Sunday, but say that could change based on demand.

Water, food, feminine products, baby products, generators and medical supplies are just some of the donations being accepted to fly over. Rooney says waterproof blankets remain at the top of their list as they’ve seen many people in affected areas sleeping outside.

“Local businesses have been super supportive. FedEx just helped us load a 757 [plane] for Asheville,” he said. “I’ve seen people bring over $1,000 of goods from Costco just drop off, say thank you, and go on their way. It’s unbelievable.”

Any pilots interested in joining the effort can contact Leesburg Executive Airport.

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