About Us

We see each day as an adventure with endless opportunities to assist people who have real needs. Our primary focus is providing mission and medical services to remote villages in Papua New Guinea by operating the only floatplane in-country.

We also conduct scheduled flights to Mexico where we provide assistance to orphans and migrant farm workers. Each year we take approximately three hundred volunteers who are given an opportunity to serve and experience life from a whole new perspective.

In the western United States we conduct Mercy Flights for individuals who are too ill to travel by commercial airlines or car. These flights allow us...

Personal Stories

My name is Karen Beckham. I am one of many that Samaritan Aviation has helped, when I could not help myself. 

I had a horrible accident while I was driving to work for SkyWest Airlines in 2006. Someone was not paying attention and ran a stop in front of me going 55 MPH. The rest is a story that put me to a test of my strengths. I thought I had just bumped the driver of the other vehicle, and I tried to get out of the car. At this point I fell and could not understand why. When I looked down to see what was wrong, I saw my legs were crushed and I went into shock. Unknowingly, I kept repeating my home phone number. A woman who was trying to help me called the number and reached my friend. This number reached the only person in the whole town who knew where I was going. This person quickly went to the hospital and met the ambulance when it arrived with me. The doctors told the person they were going to do exploratory surgery. I nearly died and my friend said,” I would like you to fly her to Denver and let a more experienced hospital take care of her”. 

I was flown by a Flight for Life to Denver and the doctors and staff saved my life. I underwent several surgeries, and spent a long and difficult month in the Denver hospital. 

My whole body was crushed and I was left to come back to Montrose broken and forever changed as a person. Then I was given the bad news: They told me that I was financially ruined, as the person in the accident had no insurance or money. This led to great financial hardship with no medical or anything to help me during my long road to recovery. 

I stopped living and holed up in my home for two and a half years. Finally I began to receive some much needed help in 2009. 

Part of the help I received was from the good people at Samaritan Aviation. They helped me to see beyond my disability and listened to my needs. I am now a volunteer at Samaritan Aviation and am happy to help others receive the same kind of assistance. 

I am greatly hoping that this story helps and in some way makes you think about your own family and how they are, or will, live their lives. Most important, I remember all of the people who worked to get me healthy enough to come back home to Montrose. I want to thank all of them and encourage all of you to think about ways you can give back. 

Thank you for listening. 

Karen Beckham

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