Part 4 of a continuing series tracking the Fly for MS flight.
After departure from Denmark, the Fly for MS crew proceeded onto additional stops within Europe, including Estonia. The crew landed in Tallinn where they had a media presentation attended by local media and the Minister of Health. The press conference was followed by a regional Multiple Sclerosis congress after which they had multiple flights organized.
During the course of the rest of the day in Estonia the pilot flew 6 flights, carrying 27 passengers from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. A bus brought the MS patients and families to the airport where they were greeted by the Fly for MS team as well as local media. The pilot, Keith, even carried some passenger to his plan to ensure they received their opportunity to experience the joy of flight and further the mission Fly for MS was trying to accomplish.
Local media interviewed many of the passengers as well as also taking a flight to see what the MS patients were able to experience. A video is available online, in the native language. Photos are included in the attached slideshow as well as additional photos available online here.
However, an interview with a local politician did demonstrate the need for change regarding MS awareness in Europe and education of the politicians and local health departments. As Andrei stated in his blog, 'Yesterday in Estonia a politician said “we don’t pay for this drug because we’ll wait for generics”. This makes it clear that there is a lack of understanding about both biologics generics mean and what time means for people with MS. None of these are obvious or trivial subjects, but this statement underscores the importance of one of our goals: helping educate governments of certain key issues surrounding MS that would lead to a change in attitude (and priority) for MS issues.'
Enroute to Tallinn, they did have some slight mechanical issues that didn't threaten their scheduled flights or activities, but would require mechanical intervention before the flight continued on. Unfortunately, due to the distance from Estonia to Tallinn, a flight scheduled to Sweden in order to fly 3 MS patients from Stockholm to Norrköping as well as fly an MS patient back to Stockholm for a media interview. After discussing the issues with multiple people, a decision was made to contact the Swedish MS society and media and cancel the events. The flight would have required a trip over open water and lasting from 3-4 hours. The urge to continue was great, but, in pilot lingo 'get-there-itis' has claimed many lives in aviation. It was a tough decision, but the correct one based on safety. Finding a mechanic in Europe familiar with the plane provide another challenge and brought about considerable expense.
Local mechanics made some minor repairs, replaced spark plugs and allowed the airplane to fly locally to carry out the events in Estonia as described earlier. The crew then flew to Finland and quickly located a mechanic familiar with the airplane. After 6 hours, the plane was fixed and Fly for MS was ready to continue it's journey.
Additional photos at Fly for MS' blog of Tallinn, Estonia.
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