Dr. Peter Sones
As a Mercy Flight™ Southeast Pilot, Dr. Sones Combines His Love of Flying with Medicine
–– by Leslie Johnston
 Combining his vocation – medicine – with his avocation – flying – Dr. Peter Sones is working to increase the number of physician pilots on Mercy Flight™ Southeast's volunteer team.
For retired Atlanta radiologist Peter J. Sones, Jr., M.D., flying and medicine have intertwined more than a few times in his life. Retired from his practice since 1996, today Dr. Sones is a 15-year veteran Mercy Flight™ Southeast pilot and an Advisory Council member for the organization.
A Tampa, Florida native, Dr. Sones' father was a pilot and aircraft dealer, and the future Dr. Sones took his first "official" flight at age six months. "I was listed on the manifest as the co-pilot for the first air mail flight into Lakeland, Florida - sitting in my mother's lap," he says with a quick smile.
He eventually found his place in the cockpit after graduating from medical school. While a resident in internal medicine at the University of Texas, he was drafted in 1964 as the Vietnam War began. "I went in the Air Force as an internal medicine physician. The Air Force had a program at the time - the mid-1960s, when NASA was getting ready to send a man to the moon - for which they wanted physician pilots, physicians who were real pilots - not aviation examiners or flight surgeons. I entered that program, which is where I learned to fly. I was not trained as an Air Force pilot, but as a part of this NASA program. I could have eventually become an Air Force pilot." However, in 1966, after his two years of service were completed, he decided against becoming an astronaut and returned to medicine full-time, continuing to fly as a civilian.
Arriving in Atlanta to attend college at Emory University in the late 1950s, Dr. Sones has made his home in Atlanta since that time, with the exception of his residency and Air Force training at Warner Robins. He completed his undergraduate course work, as well as his medical training, at Emory, and later joined the staff at Emory, where he practiced and taught radiology at Emory University School of Medicine for 20 years. Dr. Sones and his wife, Lindsey, continue to live in the Emory area. They are the parents of five daughters.
"Over the years, I've been through all sorts of airplanes," he says. "The first plane I had was one-fifth of a Beechcraft Bonanza, which was all I could afford at the time. Now, I'm flying a Piper Cheyenne. I'm fortunate to have it and be able to do Mercy Flight™ Southeast in it," he explains. Dr. Sones' plane is based at Epps Aviation at Peachtree-DeKalb Airport.
He is a past president of the Flying Physicians Association (FPA), a national organization of physicians who are also pilots, which is based in Orlando, and he currently serves on the organization's board. "We do continuing medical education programs and contribute to flight safety in a number of ways," he notes. The organization conducted a safety study of member pilots that spanned 15 years and ended just last year. "It turns out that members of our organization have a significantly better safety record, as a whole, than general aviation pilots as a group. We're very proud of that. A lot of has to do with the fact that most of the pilots are instrument rated and remain current," he says.
The FPA contributes to the support of a free medical clinic in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica. "The clinic is open-round," Dr. Sones says. "We provide physicians to help staff the clinic; it's a project that is supported to a large extent by Rotary Clubs." Dr. Sones has been a volunteer physician at the clinic, a volunteer role that he, not surprisingly, found very rewarding.
The FPA has also formed a working relationship with Mercy Flight™ Southeast, Dr. Sones says. "We strongly encourage our members to participate in Mercy Flight™ Southeast alliances around the country," he adds. As an Mercy Flight™ Southeast Advisory Council Member, Dr. Sones' role involves advising the organization on ways to recruit more Mercy Flight™ Southeast pilots. "I feel very good about the fact that we're getting more Flying Physicians' pilots involved," he adds. "Mercy Flight™ Southeast are specifically organized to be primarily short flights in several legs. This is because our volunteers fly everything from small Cessna 172s up to turbo props."
Being a physician provides Dr. Sones with a unique perspective on the patients he is transporting. "I usually wait and talk to them about their medical conditions at the end of the flight," he explains. "I need to concentrate on being the pilot during the flight. I have a complex airplane that requires my total dedication and attention." Patients may or may not know that their pilot is also a physician. In his eight-seat Cheyenne, Dr. Sones can comfortably fly five people. "Mercy Flight™ Southeast does wonderful things for a lot of people on a regular basis, and did a remarkable job of helping out after Hurricane Katrina," he adds. "There are many people who, as a result of Mercy Flight™ Southeast, have access to medical care who otherwise would not."
In addition to his work with Mercy Flight™ Southeast and FPA, Dr. Sones and his family are active supporters of the Florida Aviation Museum in Lakeland. "It's the official aviation museum for the state of Florida. I've contributed a lot of my father's flying memorabilia from his days in air racing. They do a lot of good things there, including encouraging young people to fly, which is a laudable activity," he says.
Perhaps a few future Mercy Flight™ Southeast pilots are among those young pilots!
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