On The Wing

Ivo Daniel Martinez is an anonymous hero. At the controls of his plane (sometimes a tiny Cessna, sometimes a twin-engine Piper), he defies the quite extraordinary flying conditions of Bolivia to come to the assistance of the most remote communities in the country.

Clark Butson founded an airline in the heart of Australia's arid desert. Its goal: to unite the isolated communities of the province of Pilbara, in the west of the country. Rescues, student transportation, supplies, visiting aboriginal communities. Clark also helps farmers during "mustering," a massive operation to gather their thousands of cattle scattered over hundreds of kilometers in the bush.

Alessandro Huber works for a small transport company that flies over Suriname. In this country covered with 96% virgin forest. Without his plane, it would take many days to connect the communities together. It is used in turn as an ambulance, taxi, freight truck, and armored van for transporting gold from mining companies.

Maheanuu Mourin is a pilot of the only Polynesian airline. On board its ATR, a turboprop aircraft capable of carrying up to 68 passengers, this 40-year-old Tahitian serves the most isolated islands of this region as big as Europe. He is the link between the communities. Without his plane, the daily life of the inhabitants of the atolls would be much more complicated.