Author: Lindsey Kerr

Celebrating the Life of Wanda Whitsitt

LifeLine Pilots celebrates the life of Wanda Whitsitt, the founder of LifeLine Pilots, who passed away on Sunday, June 4, 2023. For 91 years, Wanda lived her life based on the three Fs: Family, Faith, and Flying. Click here to read Wanda’s obituary. We welcome you to share any stories of meeting Wanda, working with… Read more »

Volunteer Pilot Response to 9/11 Attacks

On September 11, we honor those who lost their lives in the tragic events that took place 21 years ago. In the wake of the attacks, most Americans wondered “How can I help?” “When air traffic came to a halt, AirLifeLine Midwest (now LifeLine Pilots) mission coordinators and volunteer pilots continued to serve our nation… Read more »

Call Sign Mismatch & FAA Enforcement Action

By Peyton Metzel, PhD – Safety Committee Chair About CMF Call Sign As you know, the CMF call sign is available to LifeLine Pilots as an alternative to your N-number when flying a mission carrying LifeLine Pilots passengers. Since CMF identifies you as flying a compassion mission, you may receive priority handling for routing or altitudes…. Read more »

Volunteer Begins 50th Anniversary Flight

Following in the footsteps of great aviators, Robert Briggs and his family will commemorate his 50th year of flying by landing at every airport in his home state of Iowa. DES MOINES, IA – Coming soon, to an airport near you – Des Moines native Robert Briggs will celebrate his 50th year of piloting by… Read more »

Giving back never tasted so good!

Everyone needs to eat!Dine at ANY Illinois, Indiana, or Michigan Logan’s Roadhouse location on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, from 5-9 pm, to help raise money for LifeLine Pilots. This fundraiser will provide the money to organize a flight to life-saving care! Dine-in or Carry-out!Present THIS flyer or order to-go using the code GIVEBACK and 15%… Read more »

Dine to Donate

Want an easy way to help LifeLine Pilots? Organize a restaurant fundraiser in YOUR community. Send us a message at missions@lifelinepilots.org and we’ll send you all the info you need! Why you should hold a LifeLine Pilots Restaurant Fundraiser… LifeLine Pilots is a non-profit, who relies on fundraising and donations to carry out our mission…. Read more »

Pilot Tips & Tricks – Responding to passenger requests…

Sometimes passengers make requests and the pilot is unsure how to respond. Here are a few we have come across and our recommended response:  Q: The passenger texts or calls a pilot directly a month after a previous flight. They tell the pilot they have another appointment scheduled and wondered if the pilot would fly them again…. Read more »

Pilot Tips & Tricks – In-flight Tips for an Easy Flight

To make flights easy for all of our pilots, we have certain protocols that we ask all of our passengers to follow. This means the passenger experience remains the same, even with different pilots. We also have a few tips that will make the journey comfortable for everyone. Only 40lbs of personal soft-sided bags allowed. This is… Read more »

Pilot Tips & Tricks – Flight Communications

“Communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.” Once a flight has been set up, communication between the volunteer pilot and the passenger is extremely important to the mission.  Here are a few tips to keep everyone on the same page. Before making any changes on a flight, notify our office first.  This includes changing… Read more »

Pilot Tips & Tricks – Helpful Hints for a Worry-Free Flight

A lot goes into coordinating a LifeLine Pilots flight.  Our Mission Coordinators are working with the passengers, pilots, physicians, social workers, and sometimes other volunteer pilot organizations to make it all happen.   Here are a few tips to make the process as easy as possible for you and the passenger. Please do not allow… Read more »

Pilot Tips & Tricks – All you need is VPOIDS

Everything that we do as an organization goes through our database called VPOIDS.  This is how volunteer pilots sign up with LifeLine Pilots, how you as a pilot keep your information up-to-date, how the passenger applies for a flight, and how our Mission Coordinators schedule the flights.  Here are a few tips to make sure… Read more »