AeroAngel Expands Medical Missions for Children via Private Aviation | Aviation International News

Private Jets Offer Lifeline to Kids through AeroAngel

AeroAngel fills medical flight access gap

AeroAngel patient — When 10-year-old Ava suffered a leukemia relapse in early 2024, she needed to get from Tampa, Florida, to Philadelphia for an evaluation and immediate CAR T-cell therapy. AeroAngel was able to arrange the trip within 48 hours, and she is now home and cancer-free.

By Amy Wilder • Writer

February 2, 2026

AeroAngel founder Mark Pestal still remembers the flight that changed everything.

A young woman with terminal kidney disease, who’d been ill since childhood, had exhausted local treatment options in Denver. Her mother found a doctor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore willing to help—but they couldn’t fly commercially, couldn’t afford a medevac flight, and couldn’t wait. Pestal, a private pilot and former volunteer with Angel Flight, called a friend with a jet. “He agreed to do the flight the next day,” Pestal recalled. “She was in very bad shape. But we got her to the hospital—and she walked out a month and a half later.”

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The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

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