VENICE, Fla. — A local missionary group that sends supplies to Haiti has not been able to do that work since violence erupted in the country.
But Venice-based Agape Flights is set to return to the embattled island nation in the coming days.
Agape Flights pilots have gotten clearance to fly into other city airports not directly impacted by the ongoing political crisis.
The charity group's planes have been grounded and operations suspended for nearly a month after violent gangs overran the capital city of Port Au Prince. The gangs are now justling for political relevance after locking the acting prime minister out of the country. That forced him to resign and created a power vacuum.
"Port Au Prince is the primary port of entry for most goods coming into the country," Gregory Haman, the director of flight operations at Agape Flights, said.
"There's nothing moving out of Port au Prince. As a result, a lot of the rest of the country, especially those in the southern forces of the country, are truly isolated from any kind of logistical support from the capital," Haman added.
Haman and Agape's crew know firsthand how quickly Haiti's volatile situation can change.
In March 2022, rioters reportedly angry about the government's inability to control the violent gangs, destroyed an Agape Flights aircraft at Les Cayes Airport.
"I was there the day after they burned it down and saw it firsthand and obviously we were out in the countryside when it actually happened so we weren't on site, thank goodness, when the airplane was destroyed but yeah I was there," Haman said.
The planes will now return to Haiti with about 2,500 pounds of cargo filled with mostly supplies like food, baby formula, mattresses, and furniture as well as several personalized care packages from loved ones of mostly missionaries who operate and live in the country.
The group is also hoping to bring back stranded missionaries and U.S. citizens who want to leave troubled regions of the country.
"Number one is the people who are bringing them, who are receiving them and getting them out to the people. We have got assurances that our people on the ground are ready and really need what we have to bring to them," Allen Speer, the CEO of Agape Flights, said.
For Speer and the organization's affiliate group, safety and security is a top priority.
"They've got a load those up on some sort of vehicle get them to wherever they need to go so that they could be distribution there, so safety is the utmost concern," Speer said.
"If we thought that there was true harm waiting for us at the locations that we will be serving, we wouldn't be flying in there," Haman said.
"I'm not so much concerned about our own security as it is just not knowing what it's going to look like. Am I going to be sitting on the ramp for six hours and waiting for authorization from immigration to do what I've got to do? It is a little disconcerting because I don't know what I don't know," he continued.
In the meantime, a flight carrying Floridians who are escaping the crisis in Haiti was expected to land in Orlando on Wednesday.
This comes after Gov. Ron Desantis announced that nearly 300 Floridians have requested assistance from the state to evacuate.
"We thought we were going to potentially get some flights, we thought maybe two flights yesterday was what we were hoping. That didn't end up happening. Now we do have confirmation finally and the first flight is in the air wheels up and they're heading our way and I know they're working on more as we speak," DeSantis said.