N.Y. Stock Exchange Chairman Donates $1M Aircraft for Missions
The chairman of the New York Stock Exchange has donated a $1 million plane to a prominent aviation mission group.
Marshall N. Carter and his wife Missy donated their personal Pilatus PC-6 aircraft earlier this month to JAARS for its humanitarian purpose. Carter is both the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Medical Center.
"The Pilatus Porter is a wonderful aircraft and has brought a tremendous amount of joy to me and my family over the years," Carter said, according to JAARS. "With its donation to JAARS for humanitarian purposes, the aircraft will now take on its most important mission ever. JAARS should be commended for its great work and for putting donations such as this to work for people in need."
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JAARS is part of Wycliffe Associates and serves the purpose of providing technical support services, including aviation, to faith-based organizations Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL International.
"We are very grateful for this timely gift from Mr. and Mrs. Carter," said JAARS president Jim Akovenko in a statement. "The aircraft is a perfect match for the very short runways that are common in the field of operations. This aircraft will complement the current fleet and will be pressed into service immediately upon arrival."
The PC-6 can carry up to ten passengers, or more than 106 cubic feet of cargo. The plane is said to be a critical component of the JAARS organization's plan to replace its aging fleet of piston engine aircraft fueled by aviation gas with turbine aircrafts in response to a worldwide shortage of aviation gas.
Turbine aircrafts burn jet fuel more readily available in places where JAARS aircrafts are flown.
Moreover, the PC-6 is praised for being ideal for the bush conditions in Indonesia where it can be flown in difficult mountain ranges, at higher elevations and faster speed than other smaller aircraft. It can also land on shorter airstrips than most aircraft with the same load capacity.
The aircraft will be operated by YAJASI, JAARS' Indonesia counterpart and partner organization.
"The provision of this PC-6 is timely as we depend on our Indonesian partner, YAJASI to provide us with safe, reliable air transportation to reach some of the remotest regions in eastern Indonesia," said SIL Indonesian director Mark Taber.
"Our efforts to provide rural and isolated communities with literacy programs and various community development initiatives will be greatly enhanced by this aircraft."
JAARS provides aviation, land and sea transportation services, computing and information technology, media services in the local and vernacular languages and other vital logistical services for language programs worldwide in assisting Bible translation efforts for the remaining language groups without Scripture in their heart language.
