Heroes Among Us: Pilot Uses Passion for Flight to Rescue Dogs
Dan Field has been a pilot for ten years, and is no stranger to passengers in his Piper Arrow II plane. But he recently welcomed an entirely new type of copilot: five stray and abandoned dogs.
The Pratt & Whitney project manager, along with 15-year-old daughter Madelyn, recently accomplished a rescue mission transporting homeless dogs from Virginia to Pennsylvania.
The father-daughter duo completed the mission for Pilots N Paws, an organization linking pilots with animal rescue shelters so stray and mistreated dogs find loving homes. During the mission, nine dogs were rescued from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and flown to Warrenton, Virginia, where they were split into two groups boarding smaller planes and transported to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Field’s plane was one of the two departing from Warrenton.
“When they landed, there was a mad dash of dogs all rushing out of the plane at the same time. Then we had 15 minutes to decide which dogs would work best together on the flight to Pennsylvania,” he said.
Field ended up with four dogs, including one puppy who spent the entire flight napping in Madelyn’s lap. “After the dogs calmed down,” he said, “they slept for the remainder of the flight looking pretty peaceful and content on their way to better homes.”
He later completed a second mission: rescuing black and tan coonhound “Duke” in Roanoke, Virginia, and transporting him to Medford, New Jersey.
Flying has been Field’s dream since he was a kid growing up in Rhode Island. Since becoming a pilot, he’s flown all over the United States – including several trips to Rhode Island from his current home in Pennsylvania – but recalls his time at the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture event as his most memorable aviation-related experience to date.
“That’s why I work at this company,” he said. “I’m an aviation geek.”
If Field has learned anything about his passion, it’s that flight is more than just a mode of transportation. In addition to Pilots N Paws, Field, Madelyn and 13-year-old son Greg have participated in the Tangier Holly Run, a holiday-themed event in which pilots fly boughs of holly, school supplies and other essential items to the citizens of remote Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay.
The role flight can play in giving back to the community is something he says Madelyn and Greg are beginning to discover, too.
“Flying is a way to open up your world to new experiences,” Field said. “It’s more than just a way to get from point A to point B.”
