While most understand the dangers of remote missionary aviation, recent government reports have brought grim reminders of the factors that cannot be controlled.

In April of 2001, American missionaries Jim and Veronica Bowers, along with their young adopted children Cory and Charity, were flown from Brazil to Peru by pilot Kevin Donaldson in a small float plane.  They were sponsored by the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, and had to leave and re-enter the country in order to obtain a permanent visa for Charity, who was just a few months old.  The family had been missionaries to the Amazon since 1993, following a stint in the US Army in Europe.

In a unique program, the CIA was working with the Peruvian government to intercept, and potentially shoot down, aircraft suspected of participating in drug smuggling operations.  The Bowers’ plane was mistakenly suspected of being Read more