MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX18) — Two pilots, Ben Buttery and Satchel Tatum, were on a mission to help those impacted by an EF-4 tornado that hit Laurel County earlier this month.
"Disaster hit, supplies are running short, people are in need," Satchel Tatum said.
"It hits pretty close to all of us here just right down the road from us," Ben Buttery said.
Traveling by plane, this was the perspective from Tatum as the two headed to London Kentucky.
"We could have driven it down there you know, it's an hour drive, kids love airplanes, my nephews love seeing airplanes fly over so maybe we can make one kid smile today and it makes the whole flight worth it," Tatum noted.
Loading up supplies for the flight from Richmond, Buttery said he was at a loss for words after looking at the devastation in Laurel County.
"You feel for them, a lot of people lost a lot of things down there. It's very heartfelt because it hit close to home. I live about 20 miles from there, originally where I'm from,"
Buttery added.
From Central Kentucky Regional Airport, Buttery and Tatum went to work delivering between 600 and 700 pounds of supplies to those affected at the London Airport and beyond.
"The tornado went right through the airport, you know, seeing all the hangars, everything destroyed, a lot of these supplies aren't gonna go to just the people who had airplanes there,
it's the whole city in general. It's just being able to help," Tatum said.
"We're trying to show London and everyone down there that EKU and EKU Aviation specifically has their back and we're there for them when they need us," Buttery noted.
The two pilots are hoping this serves as another great example of Kentuckians coming together during a crisis.
While Buttery was raised in Clay County, Tatum grew up in Lebanon, Kentucky.
