UNC Air Operations offers a health transport service that provides medical professionals and faculty members with the convenience of traveling to different locations across the state. Unfortunately, their plane crashed at RDU, carrying Dr. Paul Chelminski, an internal medicine physician from UNC Health. Despite being hospitalized initially, Dr. Chelminski was later released, while the pilot, Art Johnson, remains in fair condition at Duke University Medical Center.
UNC Air Operations operates a fleet of six planes and typically conducts five to seven flights daily, accommodating one to three passengers on each trip. These flights serve various purposes such as transporting university faculty to conferences or medical residents to clinics for patient care. A representative from UNC Air Operations, Cotton, states that the service they provide eases the burden on medical professionals by offering efficient transportation options.
According to Cotton, weather conditions at the time were not considered a factor in the crash that occurred at RDU. Although this incident has shaken the UNC community and raised concerns about air travel safety, Cotton reassures that measures have been taken to ensure safe operations in the future.
