Images of Chicago to Haiti relief flight
Bruce Paluch of Wilmette, an agent with the United States State Department, brings a load of people to board the United Flight back to Chicago.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Evacuees from Haiti deplane in Chicago Wednesday night.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
The first United Airlines relief flight to Haiti sits on the tarmac in Port-au-Prince Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Seventy-one United States citizens or visa holders were allowed to board the return flight from Port-au-Prince to Chicago.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Employees of United Airlines and volunteers load up for a relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United States citizens wait in line hoping for a seat on a flight back to Chicago from Port-au-Prince onWednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Dr. Dennis Korpman of United Airlines brings some airline meals to military personnel at the airport in Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Employees of United Airlines and volunteers load up for a relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United Airlines on Wednesday flew its first relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups. Relief workers were on the flight as well.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Liz Rooner of World Aid Relief catches some sleep en route to Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Purser Supervisor Carol Bartacchi hugs Managing Director of Corporate Social Investment Sonya Jackson after their return from United Airlines first relief flight to Haiti and back.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Governor Pat Quinn talks with United Airlines' Sonya Jackson after United's relief trip to Haiti.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
People wait outside the airport hoping to get out of Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Members of Edge Outreach from Louisville, Ky., prepare to check in at O'Hare Airport Wednesday morning. They were part of a United Airlines flight heading to Haiti with volunteers and supplies.
Passengers arrive at the O'Hare Airport International Terminal after taking a United Airlines flight from Haiti Wednesday.
Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer
Capt. Greg Downs is interviewed before United Airlines loads its first relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups. Relief workers are headed there as well.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
The scene on the ground as United Airlines brings it's first relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Thousands of people line the gate to the airport in Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United Airlines on Wednesday flew its first relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups. Relief workers were on the flight as well.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Red Cross volunteer Susan Nalbach of Oakbrook assists a passenger with a blanket upon arrival at the O'Hare Airport International Terminal after taking a United Airlines flight from Haiti Wednesday.
Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer
Most buildings north of the airport in Port-au-Prince were missing their second floor.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United States military personnel run the tower operations from a field by the runway after damage to the airport in Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Flight attendant Corrine Hart-Cooley helps assist a Haitian evacuee by taking 2-month-old Jamesly Paul for a walk around the cabin during United's first relief flight to and from Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Bud Nusbaum unloads some of the 14,000 pounds of water donated by Walgreens in Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Employees of United Airlines and volunteers load up for a relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Evacuees from Haiti arrive at O'Hare Airport in Chicago Wednesday night.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
A passenger rejoices upon arrival at the O'Hare Airport International Terminal after taking a United Airlines flight from Haiti Wednesday.
Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer
Edge Outreach, a group bound for Haiti to help with water purification, provided all their people with a handbook for the trip. the guide included phone numbers, names and pictures of the people on the trip and information about Haiti.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Evacuees board United Airlines' first relief flight to Haiti Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Seventy-one United States citizens or visa holders were allowed to board the return flight from Port-au-Prince to Chicago.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Seventy-one United States citizens or visa holders were allowed to board the return flight from Port-au-Prince to Chicago.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Seventy-one United States citizens or visa holders were allowed to board the return flight from Port-au-Prince to Chicago.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
The airport in Port-au-Prince suffered significant damage in the 7.0 magnitude earthquake.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Relief workers check out a pocket map of Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
A scene from the final descent into Port-au-Prince Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Passengers arrive at the O'Hare Airport International Terminal after taking a United Airlines flight from Haiti Wednesday.
Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer
Relief workers arriving on the ground in Haiti cover their ears as a cargo jet's engines begin to roar .
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Relief workers arrive in Port-au-Prince and check out the scene at the airport Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
A young passenger receives a Red Cross blanket after arriving at the O'Hare Airport International Terminal on a United Airlines flight from Haiti Wednesday.
Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer
A United States Air Force cargo plane leaves Port-au-Prince with evacuees Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Thousands of people lined the gate to the airport in Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United States Air Force jets line up to take evacuees out after bringing supplies and troops in.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Workers wait in the back of a truck at the airport.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
A Red Cross ship sits off shore in Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Employees of United Airlines and volunteers load up for a relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Philippe Gaspard of United Airlines talks with United States government officials as he tries to fill United's first relief flight to Port Au Prince with passengers for the trip back. Gaspard is from Arlington Heights and used to live in Haiti.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Ron Italiano of Algonquin, a member of the United ground crew, talks with a couple hoping to get to New York from Port-au-Prince Wednesday. Of the 79 evacuees boarded by the US State Department, none of them were to have Chicago as a final destination.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Ricardo Diniz is reflected in the glasses of Seth Teske as they wait for transport in Port-au-Prince. Both men are nurses from Illinois Masonic Hospital and live in Lakeview.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United Airlines ground crew member Ron Italiano of Algonquin helps pass water out to the 79 passengers United picked up in Port-au-Prince Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Several fires burned in Port-au-Prince as United's first relief flight landed Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United States citizens living in Haiti reported waiting over 10 hours through various layers of processing through several organizations in order to board a flight.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
The United Airlines flight crew poses for pictures by their fellow ground crew employees in Haiti. United had to take ground crew and mechanics along on the relief trip since United does not offer standard service to Haiti.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
The military camp at the airport in Port-au-Prince is seen behind the wing of United's first relief flight there Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Employees of United Airlines and volunteers load up for a relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United Airlines on Wednesday flew its first relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups. Relief workers were on the flight as well.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
An M-18 carrying US Coast Guard SWAT team members guarded the United flight for the 3 hours it spent on the tarmac in Port-au-Prince
Rick West | Staff Photographer
A United States Coast Guard officer helps a little girl put in some ear plugs as 2 large cargo planes roar.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Flight attendant Corrine Hart-Cooley wraps a blanket around a child before deplaning in Chicago.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Dr. Dennis Korpman advises the flight crew about what they might see, and smell, upon landing in Port-au-Prince Wednseday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
Seth Teske, a relief worker from Lakeview, gets some sleep on the early morning flight from Chicago to Port-au-Prince.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United Airlines Managing Director of Corporate Social Investment Sonya Jackson hugs a relief worker as they deplane in Port-au-Prince Wednesday.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
United Airlines loads its first relief flight to Haiti with cargo from Walgreens as well as other companies and relief groups. Relief workers are headed there as well.
Rick West | Staff Photographer
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