Greg Kaaz has been a pilot for Angel Flight Central, (AFC) flying charitable flights for 30 years.
AFC is a volunteer, non-profit organization that coordinates free air transportation to patients and their families requiring medical treatment outside of their geographic area, whose financial resources would not otherwise enable them to receive the care they need.
AFC’s mission is to ‘Serve people in need by arranging charitable flights for health care or other humanitarian purposes.’
Volunteers and supporters for AFC throughout the Midwest have made possible more than 32,000 flights free of charge, covering more than 11 million nautical miles. Thousands of families have accessed specialized health care, special needs camps, and other destinations for disaster response efforts and compassionate reasons.
Passenger Teddy getting prepped for flight by Angel Flight Central pilot Greg Kaaz.
The organization hosts an annual fund raiser called Wine Flight and they honor someone with the Jim Stevens Distinguished Service and Leadership Award. This year Greg Kaaz will receive the award and he will be honored for his decades of humanitarian service to people in the area, including many from Weston, Platte City and other Platte County residents.
Kaaz began flying for AirLifeLine in 1992. At that time, he coordinated flights in the Midwest and fly missions.
“In 1995, I joined Wings Over Mid-America that was started by Jim Stevens Jr. around 2000, Wings Over Mid-America became Angel Flight Central and joined like organizations across the United States,” Kaaz said. “I have been blessed to have the ability to become a pilot. In addition, I have had the ability along with family members’ contributions to have aircraft to provide flights for charitable aviation.”
He has been a pilot for 32 years. He was working on a taxiway at Lee’s Summit airport and he thought it would be cool to learn to fly. He began taking lessons and received his private pilot’s license.
“From that, I have added additional ratings and privileges,” Kaaz said. “I currently have an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license with a type rating for Citation Jets. Aviation has been a passion throughout my life. I have received a lot of benefits from flying and gained a lot of knowledge that relate to other activities.”
He hasn’t kept track of all the flights he has made for Angel Flight Central, and he’s not concerned with the number of flights. He only cares about helping people in need.
He flies nationwide, but most of his flights are less than 700 miles in length. A lot of the flights are done with a relay system. The first pilot might take them halfway to their destination and a second pilot will pick them up and complete their flight. In the Midwest, the most common destinations are Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., MD Anderson in Houston, Texas, and to the East Coast for children’s hospitals. There are also quite a few flights from outlying areas of Kansas to the Kansas City area for treatment. KU Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital are two of the most common destinations in Kansas City, but there are flights for other specialty care also.
When he found out he had been chosen for the distinguished service award this year and will be honored at Wine Flight on Nov. 18 in Kansas City, he said, “I guess I thought maybe they got a line off on the list. I’m not really a person that likes to be in the spotlight and get recognition. I’m very honored to receive the award, but there are so many other people in the background that do more than I do. Hopefully, I can use this opportunity to promote AFC and let other people know this service is available. I think it’s the best kept secret for people going through medical treatment.”
Brendan Sneegas, executive director of Angel Flight Central, said if the organization had a Mount Rushmore, the face of Greg Kaaz would be on it.
“As a founding board member, a donor, volunteer and even top-tier pilot, Mr. Kaaz has, and continues, to do it all,” Sneegas said. “Greg currently sits as the leading ‘active’ pilot on AFC’s roster with 237 remarkable flights equaling a total distance of two-and-a-half times around the earth. Nearly 60,000 nautical miles of changing and saving lives of strangers-in-need. But Greg’s efforts don’t stop there as he continues his passion to spread the word to others about the mission of AFC. Greg will serve his community without hesitation, especially those who are or have served in our military. The stories Greg could tell us about his passengers could fill multiple books and are absolutely priceless - just like Greg.”
AFC also does flights for disaster recovery such at hurricanes, camp flights for kids with special needs, and compassion flights such as flying someone to see a dying family member.
When asked about his most memorable flights with patients, Kaaz said that anything with kids touches his heart.
“Probably the most memorable one involved a little girl that was 5 or 6 years old that had a terminal brain tumor,” Kaaz said. “She wanted to meet the princess at Disneyland. Make a Wish had set up the trip but she was unable to make it due to illness. Someone donated a condominium, Disney donated the tickets and AFC agreed to fly them from Kansas City to Orlando when she was feeling better. I was taking them to Orlando and was over Springfield, Mo. at 30,000 feet. It was a picture-perfect day with a layer of clouds below us. I heard the little girl ask her mother, ‘Is this what heaven is going to look like?’ I lost it. I’m glad the plane was on autopilot. That memory will stick with me forever. I never heard what happened to the little girl.”
Kaaz said that most people are very appreciative of the flights. However, he had a few people get out of the plane and head to the terminal without saying ‘thank you.’
“At first, it kind of bothered me,” Kaaz said. “But after thinking about it, I realized these people are fighting for their life. I’m a means for them to get to their treatment. They have so much on their mind, that me thinking they should say thank you is very petty.”
While weather is a factor in the flights, Kaaz said normally when you make these flights halfway across the U.S. you are going to have to deal with weather, and it’s just part of flying.
He is fortunate to have an aircraft that is very capable in bad weather with onboard radar and de-ice capabilities.
“Most of the weather I can fly over, except at the origination and destination airports,” Kaaz said. “If the weather is questionable, I will cancel or delay the flight. I’m getting too old to fight the weather!”
Trying to find time for the flights can also be a challenge since Kaaz is the president of Leavenworth Excavating & Equipment Company Inc. (Lexeco).
He says it can also be challenging trying to figure out what the passengers are going through and how to react to them since for the patients and caregivers, it’s a very difficult time in their lives.
Even after 30 years of flying, Kaaz said his wife, Connie worries about him when he flies.
“My wife worries about me driving to the airport! I have it set up so she gets text messages when I take off and when I land. I normally call her when I get to a destination. She is one of the people that is behind the scenes and never gets any recognition.”
As a pilot for Angel Flight Central, the rewards of what he does revolve around knowing how much he does to make people’s lives easier when they face serious medical problems.
“It makes me realize how blessed I am in my life,” Kaaz said. “The challenges these people are facing makes me appreciate the blessings that God has given me. My problems are so small compared to what they are going through. Every flight makes me appreciate my family and God.”