Fast forward a few years and having since achieved a Bachelor of Aviation/ Bachelor of Business (Management), Commercial Pilots Licence and Flight Instructors Rating, Matthew is now preparing to move to Arnhem Land to serve with MAF Australia in just a few weeks’ time.

He says, “I am looking forward to seeing more of the amazing ways God moves in working with MAF and in the Arnhem Land communities as a missionary pilot.”

Recently, Matthew travelled to Arnhem Land on a look-see visit and had the opportunity to join in a couple of flights:

June 30, 2022, 11:13am – MAF Base, Nhulunbuy

An urgent phone call from a remote island.

The phone rings and I watch as one of our operations team quickly answers it. The call is from a safehouse located on an outlying island in Arnhem Land.

A Yolngu mother and her two young children are in desperate need of evacuation. Sadly, they had been sheltering from domestic violence abuse and it is now too dangerous for them to remain in community. We are told they desperately need a flight to the Miyalk Domestic and Family Violence Shelter (MDFVS) based in Nhulunbuy. There they can receive the care and support they need.

A flight is the only way off this island.

In 2021, not a week went by without a request from a woman in a remote homeland community for transport assistance to [a domestic violence shelter].

To complicate the matter, the perpetrator is waiting at the airport to prevent their victims from getting on a flight to safety. In similar scenarios, spears have been thrown at our aircraft as we’ve evacuated those in need.

We need to act fast!

The operations room suddenly becomes a hive of activity, as our team begins to plan an evacuation.

We stay on the phone with the people at the safehouse, and find a way to get the mother and her children to the airstrip.

Once they arrive, their only option is to hide in nearby bushes, away from those trying to stop them.

We need to time their arrival well so that they don’t wait around long.

We tell our pilot that the turn-around needs to be very quick … in case this turns violent.

We contact our pilots through our satellite communication network, letting them know we need a plane to land there quickly.

The closest aircraft is our MAF shuttle, but it’s currently booked out. I watch as the Ops team shuffle seating around to make room for our evacuees. Unfortunately, we need to leave a few of the original passengers behind, so we reroute a plane to pick them up, with only a short delay.

Our priority is getting this mother and her children to safety.

We provide an ETA to the safehouse and they begin their journey to the airstrip.

We tell our pilot that the turn-around needs to be very quick … in case this turns violent.

An MAF plane in Arnhem Land

In the ops room, we watch on the satellite screen as our plane lands at the island airstrip.

We hold our breath, praying that this evacuation runs smoothly.

Within a few minutes of landing, our pilot rushes our evacuees from the bushes to airside, where our plane is waiting ready for take-off.

We breathe a sigh of relief as we watch our plane depart and turn towards Nhulunbuy.

In 2021, not a week went by without a request from a woman in a remote homeland community for transport assistance to the MDFVS or their family’s home community.

MAF delivers groceries to remote Bremer Island, 46km east of Nhulunbuy

June 1, 2022, 2:32pm

I’m sitting in the operations room watching the operations team work, when Matt H (MAF Pilot) walks into the room.

He tells me he’s off on a 10-minute flight to Bremer Island – an island 46km east of Nhulunbuy. The mission is to fly a few residents and two loads of groceries to the settlement of Gutjangan.

Approximately 25 Yolngu people live on this relatively large island. This is how they get their weekly supplies. Meanwhile, where I live in Melbourne, a major supermarket is a five-minute walk down the road. Without a second thought, I can get all the supplies I need.

Matt H invites me along on this ‘shopping delivery’ and I jump at the opportunity.

We quickly weigh up our passengers and cargo, and calculate our margins for operations at Bremer Island. The airstrip is a 700m-long bumpy, dirt strip – it sounds long, but in reality, it’s not. Thankfully, the C208 Caravan is a very capable short-field aircraft.

It’s pretty funny to think that I’ve just flown Woolworths groceries to one of the most remote places in Australia.

We load up the aircraft and within a few minutes, we’ve departed Nhulunbuy for Bremer Island.

Minutes after our arrival, we begin unloading. The Yolngu are very thankful for our delivery and I watch as they walk the supplies back to their homes.

It’s pretty funny to think that I’ve just flown Woolworths groceries to one of the most remote places in Australia.

Other than a long boat ride, it’s the only way to get supplies to this island.

Matt H laughs and talks with one of the elders. I hear them talking about the airstrip and a few little improvements that can be made. Communities out here build and maintain their own airstrip, so that we can continue to bring the supplies and help they need to thrive.