Dennis Torres of Malibu, California was doing well with his real estate development business, enjoying his small airplane, feeling a long way from his tour of duty in Vietnam.
But Torres was looking for a way to serve, for a need that wasn’t being filled; somewhere he could make a real contribution. Then he heard about a man who had died of a diagnosed illness that could have been cured, if only the man could have gotten to the treatment center he needed. Health insurance would have covered the man’s hospital expenses, but he couldn’t afford the plane fare to get there.
Torres realized he could have used his private plane to take the man to the treatment center, if only he’d known about him. This would be the way he’d serve.
Friends told Torres he was crazy, that no seriously ill person would get into a little plane like his, that liability insurance would bankrupt him. He went to a major Los Angeles hospital and offered to fly in needy patients. The hospital turned him down saying they wouldn’t risk the insurance liability.
Undeterred, Torres and his wife, Averi, sent 100 letters to private pilots, got 25 to a meeting and signed up 14 of them as the first members of Angel Flight, recruiting more pilots, taking in mission requests, lining up flights. Torres paid the office expenses and the pilots covered the costs of each mission they flew.
“They have to be coming to us because they want to give,” Torres says.
Hundreds of private pilots have joined Angel Flight–business executives, mechanics, bankers, writers, doctors, restauranteurs, television and movie producers, and professional pilots.
“One of our pilots is so busy,” Torres says, “you have to go through four secretaries to get to him. He’s swamped. But when it comes to Angel Flight business, he will stop the whole world.”
Torres has some office help now, so he’s become the operation’s chief fundraiser, allowing Angel Flight to expand into other states.
He and all the Angel Flight volunteers were commended as Giraffes in 1988. And they're still flying.