A small single-engine plane which landed at Tafuna International Airport on Tuesday is on a round the globe mission to raise awareness for the eradication of polio.
The plane, carrying two people, arrived from Fiji and is in American Samoa for approximately two days.
The pilots Peter Teahen and John Ockenfels are raising awareness for polio eradication by attempting a rare feat in the aviation world; piloting a single engine aircraft all the way around the globe!
The pair left Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 5, 2023 in a Cessna T210M (single engine) airplane outfitted with extra fuel tanks.
Along the way, they have stopped in dozens of countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Oceania to promote ending the disabling and life-threatening disease of polio forever throughout the world. The mission will continue through Hawai’i and North America within two weeks.
Both Teahan and Ockenfels are Rotarians and members of the Fellowship of Flying Rotarians. Polio eradication has been a primary focus of Rotary for over 35 years and continues to be a major initiative.
As the pair note on their official website www.flighttoendpolio.com, “While the end of polio may be near, no child anywhere is safe until every child has been vaccinated.”
The small plane landed at Tafuna around 5pm, Tuesday.
The pilots were greeted on the tarmac by a delegation from the Rotary Club of Pago Pago who presented them with cultural gifts before they were driven to the Tradewinds Hotel, where they will await the 100 octane aviation fuel required by their plane.
Weather permitting, they expect to fly non-stop to Hawai’i by Thursday or Friday; a trip that will take 16 hours.
According to the pilots, less than 700 people have completed a circumnavigation of the globe in a single-engine plane.
