One of the major problems facing relief efforts into Haiti is the lack of airports. Haiti, which covers over 10,700 square miles, has only four airports and only one near the major disaster area. In comparison San Diego County at 4,200 square miles, is only 40% that size, but has over 20 airports. The major civilian airports in the San Diego area are San Diego International, Carlsbad Palomar, Montgomery, Gillespie, Ramona, and Brown. In addition to these larger Civilian airports there are three major military airports which include Miramar, Camp Pendleton, and North Island. When you add in the host of secondary airports in San Diego it is clear that a lot of relief could get here very quickly if we ever needed it.
Nationwide in the US there are over 5,000 public airports and almost 20,000 heliports and public and private airports. It is rare in the US for any location to be more than 50 miles from a fairly substantial airport. And when disasters strike, there is no quicker way to reach those who need help than aviation.
