Pink Jet brings breast cancer awareness message to El Paso air show

The Pink Jet, a breast cancer awareness aircraft piloted by advocate Stephanie Goetz, took to the skies at the Amigo Airsho at Fort Bliss's Biggs Army Airfield this past weekend to promote the Fox Cancer Center at Texas Tech Health El Paso, according to El Paso Matters.

The performance coincided with Breast Cancer Awareness Month and was sponsored by Steve and Nancy Fox and the Fox Family Foundation. The Fox Cancer Center, now under construction on the Texas Tech Health El Paso campus, will consolidate comprehensive cancer care in one location, eliminating the need for local patients to travel out of town for specialized treatment.

Goetz met with breast cancer patients and physicians at the Texas Tech Health El Paso Breast Care Center on Thursday, Oct. 22, before the air show performance. "The Pink Jet is to be that beacon of hope and light and inspiration and to remind people that there is possibility and years of thriving after a diagnosis — that it's not the end," Goetz said, according to El Paso Matters. Her connection to the disease is personal: her mother was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer and is now cancer-free.

The Pink Jet is an L-39 Albatros, a former military aircraft flown by women. The organization uses air show performances to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer organizations.

Nusenda Credit Union partnered with Texas Tech Health El Paso on the effort, assembling 50 care kits during a volunteer service day earlier this month. The kits, distributed to Breast Care Center patients on Thursday, contained breast cancer awareness bags, socks, water bottles, journals, personal care items and medical alert bracelets. Nusenda is the title sponsor of Lighting Campus for Hope on Dec. 4, a holiday fundraiser, and is donating $40,000 to support cancer screening programs.

Kate Slaughter, 50, was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer last year after a mammogram detected the disease. After years of her provider urging her to get screened, Slaughter finally went. "This time, I was afraid of going back to see her without having done it, so I went and got it done," she said, according to El Paso Matters. She subsequently underwent chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.

Celia Ray's Stage 1 ductal carcinoma in situ was discovered through routine mammography in December 2025, despite having no symptoms. "I tell people all the time how important screenings are. I go every year. I had no warning, no symptoms," Ray said.