Ft. Worth Mayor Presides Over Airplane Dedication

Ft. Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr and MERCY MED:FLIGHT's President Ken McAlear cut the red, white and blue ribbon that stretched across the door of the jet, which will be used to transport patients to every state except Hawaii.

"I don't know of anything more impressive than this," Barr said of MERCY MED:FLIGHT. " This is really giving something to people who can't help themselves. This is good work, it's God's work, and you are really making a difference," he said.  "This airplane is really a step forward."

Also presiding over the dedication was MERCY MED:FLIGHT's volunteer chaplain, Coy Quesenbury, pastor of Lonesome Dove Baptist Church in Southlake TX.  Quesenbury asked God to bless the new Cessna Citation I.  "We thank you Lord for this aircraft," Quesenbury prayed.  "Not that it is beautiful, but that it expends our ministry.  Bless this airplane, always keep it safe, and bless those who fly in it and bless these patients."

McAlear said the new jet will let the group transport eight to 10 patients a month, compared to the four to five a month they could move with their previous twin-engined, propeller-driven Cessna 421C.

Dedication ceremonies where held on Saturday, March 22, 2003 at MERCY MED:FLIGHT's headquarters located at Texas Jet on Meacham International Airport in Ft. Worth, TX.

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