A while ago I flew a team to several villages in the rainforest over a three-day period. The team included a nurse and a dental specialist who were there to provide medical assistance. The last village we visited on this trip was called Ampasimadinika and was located right next to a river.
Dentist at work Examination of a sick woman
While I was hovering and wanted to land, it was as if an inner voice was telling me to set the helicopter a little further away from the river towards the village. In March it is usually still rainy season, and it really began to rain very heavily that night. I slept deeply and firmly and so I was quite shocked when I woke up the next morning to find the small river I had landed beside had turned into a raging river during the night. The water was already coming very close to the helicopter, and I was glad that I had “parked” the helicopter further away from the river. I continued to keep my eye on the river until we left for our flight back to Antananarivo in the late morning. Thank God I listened to the inner voice which warned me of an impending incident!
Nick, Pilot
Distributing medicine Very close! Finally something is going on again!
