Two pilots spend savings on plane to rescue migrants in Mediterranean Sea.

Two Pilots Rescues Migrants in the Mediterranean Sea

Two French pilots have been recently saving lives of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

It has been reported that around 600 people have been found dead trying to cross the sea. Europe and the Middle East have been grappling with a migrant and refugee crisis since the war in Syria erupted in 2011. The situation was intensified with the rise of the Islamic State, which spread its terror throughout the Middle East and forced hundreds of thousands to abandon their home countries.

José Benavente and Benoit Micolon

José Benavente and Benoit Micolon, bought an aircraft using their own savings. Their plane flies them over the ocean separating Europe from North Africa.

Their goal is to save lives by spotting rickety, overcrowded migrant vessels before it’s too late.

Pilotes Volontaires (Volunteer Pilots)

They first started their mission on May 12 and they spotted 2 boats. The first was empty. It had been marked “SAR 12/05/18,” indicating the migrants had been rescued earlier in the day. The other, a Zodiac inflatable boat with over 100 people on board, was in the midst of its own rescue operation.

“Today was rich in emotion,” they posted on the Facebook page of their aid group, Pilotes Volontaires (Volunteer Pilots). “After three months of preparation, we were finally able to carry out our first surveillance flight.”

Migrants sailing the Mediterranean Sea. 

Benavente, 49, has been involved in humanitarian work for 25 years. He used his passion for flying to do good when he first heard of migrants dying at sea some 15 years ago while stationed in Africa for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The haunting image of Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in September 2015, spurred him into action and he began following the work of nonprofit groups in the Mediterranean.

José Benavente and Benoit Micolon on the move.

Pilotes Volontaires estimates that its annual operation will cost $335,000 because, as Micolon highlighted, “using a plane is expensive: about 150 euros per day.”

Benavente and Micolon have only just spread their wings over the Mediterranean, but they have already received 20 percent of their estimated budget through donations.

The pilot duo bought and equipped a Dyn'Aero MCR-4S plane.

They hope that donations will pour to support their mission on helping others.

"We hope donations will allow us to continue as long as it will be necessary," they said. "In fact, we've been reassured by the public's beautiful response."

“Together we can decrease the level of violence, raise awareness of our activities and save lives around the world. The impact of a day of global ceasefire and non-violence cannot be underestimated.”

- Jeremy Gilley