Two Pilots Spent Their Savings On A Plane To Rescue Migrants At Sea

Two French pilots have pooled their money to buy and equip a plane to help locate the boats full of migrants that often get lost at sea.

The two men, who met while earning their pilot's licenses, launched Pilotes Volontaires with $150,000 set aside to purchase the plane. 

José Benavente has worked with the Red Cross for 25 years and has witnessed first hand the devastation faced by Syrian refugees who board tiny boats that are hard to locate via ship, but would be visible from the air.

“It is very difficult to locate these small boats, sometimes carrying hundreds of people, and often the vessels ready to help them arrive too late,” the pilots wrote on their website. “We refuse to accept this fact as a fatality and we want to act to save more lives. Our mission is to provide air support, thanks to our aircraft adapted to search at sea.”

After partnering with several regional nonprofits and charities to coordinate rescue efforts, the altruistic men launched their maiden flight over the Mediterranean to search for boats earlier this month.