Fuel costs forcing charity to turn away patients

To save fuel, volunteer pilot Bill Davidson now packs more than one sick passenger onto his shiny six-seat Piper Malibu airplane when he makes a hospital run.

So, on a recent afternoon flight from Houston back to Denton, 19-month-old Marisol Salas, who suffers from a nerve disorder called brachial plexus, sat across from Lenore Kinzenbaw, a 58-year-old woman with breast cancer. Both Marisol and Ms. Kinzenbaw had needed a flight to Houston hospitals for treatment. And Angel Flight

High fuel prices, however, have made it more expensive for these pilots to fill up their planes, and Angel Flight’s staff is worried it will lose the kindhearted services of pilots like Mr. Davidson.

It has already turned away 120 patients this year