Come Fly with Me: A Day in the Life of an Angel Flight Central Intern

Katie Miller is student at Oklahoma State University and current private pilot.

July 1st started as any other day in the office. I checked in with Brendan, our CEO, and started working on a data entry task. Then Darryl, one of our volunteer Angel Flight Central (AFC) pilots, came into the office to meet up with his passengers for the day, Butch and Molly. Darryl mentioned he had extra weight to spare for this flight and asked if I wanted to join. Being that I’m a pilot, I’ll take any excuse to get up in the air, and this was a great one. 

Meeting Butch & Molly

Butch and Molly arrived in the office following Butch’s appointment at KU med for a progressive muscle disorder. Butch is no stranger to AFC. In fact, this was his 18th flight with us, each one helping him get to or from KU Med for his monthly appointments. With each flight saving him over 8 hours in the car. 

This was, however, Butch’s first time in the AFC office where he got to meet all the staff. He and his daughter Molly were also the first passengers to be in the new office! The rest of the staff and I were thrilled to meet them and see all of the flight coordination and outreach we do every day come to life. If you ever have the chance to stop by the office we would LOVE to meet you and show you around the office!

In the Air

Volunteer pilot Darryl, patient Butch, his daughter Molly, and AFC intern Katie

After picking up some snacks from the pilot lounge, we left KMKC at around noon and headed towards Fort Dodge, Iowa. It was a beautiful day to fly with sunny skies and just a few clouds to punch through. 

I got to see firsthand what the typical flow of an angel flight looks like. En route, I talked with Darryl, Butch, and Molly about everything from skydiving and youth sports, to our jobs and, of course, flying. For entertainment, we all agreed on a soundtrack of Y2K country hits. 

The flight flew by and we were in Fort Dodge by 1:45. There Darryl and I said goodbye to Butch and Molly as they met the pilot of their second leg Ned. Ned has flown over 250 missions with AFC, and today he’ll complete the final leg of Butch and Molly’s journey, flying them the rest of the way home to Pierz, MN.

Every flight tells a story. Every mile brings hope.

Thanks to over 330 generous volunteer pilots like Darryl and Ned, and the donors and supporters who back our mission, AFC is able to provide life-changing flights completely free of cost to people like Butch. Behind every mission are volunteers, staff, and community members working together to help someone reach critical medical care or return home with comfort.

By: Katie Miller