David Dinneen, the Massachusetts Aviation coordinator of Turtles Fly Too, will speak about the organization's mission on April 4 at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire in Londonderry. Courtesy photo

LONDONDERRY – Never mind when pigs fly. How about turtles?

That’s what happens each year when local pilots help a conservation group transport hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles by air from chilly New England waters to warmer climates.

Residents are invited to learn all about this unusual rescue effort on April 4 at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, 27 Navigator Rd. in Londonderry.

The program, held in honor of Earth Day, will begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $10 per person. Museum members will be admitted free of charge.

David Dinneen, a pilot and Massachusetts Aviation Coordinator for Turtles Fly Too, will speak about how aviation supports the rescue of sea turtles that each year become stranded and disoriented in the cold waters off New England.

Species involved in the rescue include Kemp’s Ridley turtles, the most critically endangered sea turtle in the world.

By mid-November, temperatures begin dropping too fast for these cold-blooded reptiles, and volunteers find them washed ashore in a hypothermic state. That’s where the pilots such as Dinneen come in to transport them to emergency treatment facilities.

Dinneen is also the aviation coordinator of Cape Cod Ocean Community, a non-profit and community-based organization that facilitates shark surveillance testing projects.

Turtles Fly Too is a non-profit with a mission to use general aviation to transport endangered species and promote conservation through education and outreach.

Their tactics include giving medivac flights to turtles that remain too long past summer in the waters of the Gulf of Maine.

Dinneen has a long history in local aviation, having worked as an airport manager and serving as executive director of the Massachusetts Airport Management Association from 2009 to 2020. Dinneen and his sister Kelley also owned and operated KING Aviation Mansfield in Mansfield, Mass.

Dinneen currently sits on the Board of Directors of MAMA, is treasurer of the Aero Club of New England and chairman of the Scituate (Mass.) Waterways Commission. Dinneen is an airport management, operations and development business leader who is passionate about educating the public on how general aviation impacts everyday life.