MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — At Miami International Airport, one American Airlines flight carried more than people. The heaviest thing on board was hope.

The flight, to Caracas, Venezuela, is the airline’s first humanitarian trip to the South American country since the deadly earthquakes.

Pilot Cristobal Orsini, originally from Venezuela, has flown a plane countless times. But a trip has never felt so personal until now.

He said, “I’m very happy and grateful that I am able to be a part of this humanitarian flight.”

“I know many people that have died,” he said. “A lot of pilots died. A lot of flight attendants, people that I knew, people that I used to work with.”

JC Liscano, a senior vice president with American, said that the airplane “is going to carry 7,000 pounds of relief supplies: medicine, food, perishables, things that are absolutely needed right now ― not just by our team, but those (who) live in the country."

The airline is partnering with the Global Empowerment Mission in Doral, where hundreds of volunteers have worked around the clock to sort, pack and ship life-saving supplies.

Even though the earthquakes brought tremendous devastation to the country, they never shook the compassion of those determined to help put it back together.

Helpful list: Aid drop-off locations in South Florida

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