Trans Capital Air, a Canadian charter operator contracted by the United Nations (UN) for humanitarian relief efforts, learned only hours after the earthquake that it needed to deploy an aircraft to Haiti as soon as possible. In order to be consistent with the rest of its fleet and its operations, TCA needed to quickly equip the aircraft with SkyTrac hardware.

Responding to the urgency of the situation, SkyTrac promptly took action; hardware products arrived the next morning, just in time to be installed in the aircraft. SkyTrac’s Vice President and Director of Business Development, Stephen Fuhr, commented, “The situation in Haiti distresses us all. We did what was in our power to have these aircraft ready to start assisting immediately.” Loss of electrical power and lack of radio communication has resulted in limited communications to and within Haiti. As SkyTrac uses the Iridium satellite system’s voice and data network, Trans Capital Air has reliable voice and data communication to and from the aircraft independent of Haiti’s fractured communication infrastructure. In addition, Trans Capital will know the GPS position and status of the aircraft at all times. This will provide Trans Capital Air with the critical communication system it needs while coordinating rescue missions with ground crews.