December 15, 2003: Nevada Wing Looks for Missing Couple

Image by Ken Lund via FlickrOn this date, the Nevada Civil Air Patrol began searching for a missing aircraft.

An excerpt from the Las Vegas Review Journal:

Members of Nevada's Civil Air Patrol this morning are expected to resume a search for a private plane that dropped off radar Sunday morning near Tonopah.

A crew of about 21 people Monday morning began searching for a downed plane that rescuers believe contained a man and his wife traveling from Tucson, Ariz., to Eugene, Ore., said Major Charles McCarthy of the Nevada Wing, Civil Air Patrol. 

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December 2, 2006: CAP Cadet Dies in Student Flight in Minnesota

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On this date, two 18 year old men--one an Illinois Civil Air Patrol cadet from an aviation family--died in an airplane crash near Crookston, Minnesota.

Cadet Jacob Rueth, an aviation student, and Jacob Sunblad, a fellow aviation student, died when the single engine Cessna Rueth was flying crashed in northwest Minnesota.  Rueth was piloting the student flight.

An excerpt from WLS-TV:

Jacob Rueth did. He got his pilot's license at 16. He was a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, rising through its ranks.

Rueth was an honor roll student at Sandburg High, and after graduating last Spring, Jacob chose the University of North Dakota's acclaimed Odegard School of Aerospace Science to pursue his dream. His plan was to become a helicopter pilot.

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July 17, 2002: NC Wing Cessna 172 Crashes While on Marijuana Eradication Mission

On this date, a North Carolina Wing Cessna 172 crashed while on a marijuana eradication mission, killing all the three crew members on board.

An excerpt from the Aviation Safety Network:

The flight departed about 1300 with a pilot, co-pilot, and observer (law enforcement officer) on-board for a marijuana eradication flight operated by the Civil Air Patrol. The airplane had been operated earlier that day in the morning and afternoon orbiting throughout areas of the county between witness reported altitudes of between 300 and 500 feet agl on the same type of mission by the same pilot. After departure on the accident flight, the flight continued the aerial observation and according to one witness, on the last pass, the airplane was observed in a large clockwise orbit noticeably lower than the 300 to 500 feet agl previously observed. A sputtering noise was heard by one witness, and another stated there was no engine sound at all just before she observed the aircraft depart normal upright flight. From an altitude of about 120 to 150 feet agl, she saw the aircraft simultaneously nose over vertically and commence a right half roll into the terrain.

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March 11, 1960: CAP Airplanes Aid in Arkansas Bomber Crash

On this date in 1960, CAP airplanes were called in to assist in the investigation of the crash of a United States Air Force B-Stratojet in Pulaski County, Arkansas.  Three crew members died and one survived the crash.


An excerpt from Arkansas Ties:

Reports persisted that two airplanes had been involved in a mid-air collision but the control tower at Adams Field said there was no evidence that a second plane was involved. As a precaution, the Civil Air Patrol sent search planes between Little Rock and Conway.

Many witnesses insisted that they saw two planes but others said the wings separated from the fuselade (sic) after the explosion, which may have led to the two-plane confusion. 

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February 20, 2009: Alaska CAP Ski Plane Crashes

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On this date in 2009,  an Alaska Civil Air Patrol ski plane crashed near Kenai, Alaska.  Fortunately, the three crew members were not injured.

An excerpt from PilotGeek Blog:

On February 20, 2009, about 1515 Alaska standard time, a wheel/ski-equipped de Havilland DHC-2 (Beaver) airplane, N5342G, sustained substantial damage during takeoff from a remote frozen lake, about 10 miles northeast of Kenai, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area proficiency/instructional flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the Civil Air Patrol Inc. (CAP), Anchorage, Alaska. The three people aboard, the first pilot, a certificated flight instructor seated in the right seat, the second pilot, seated in the left seat, and a pilot-rated passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and CAP flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated at the Kenai Municipal Airport, Kenai, about 1445.

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January 15, 1995: Searches Find Bodies of Three CAP Members in California Crash

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On this date in 1995, searchers found the bodies of three California Civil Air Patrol members whose own search plane that had crashed.

An excerpt from the Los Angeles Times:

UPLAND — The bodies of all three members of a volunteer Civil Air Patrol search team were found Sunday in the wreckage of their light plane in the San Gabriel Mountains, a tragic end to an attempt to find a plane and pilot missing for two weeks.

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December 21, 2003: California Finds Downed Helicopter and Survivors

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On this date, the California Civil Air Patrol Announced it had discovered the crash of a Robinson R-22 helicopter in the mountains of San Diego County.  The crew survived.

An excerpt from the CAWG's release:

TEMECULA, CA – A Civil Air Patrol (CAP) aircraft and flight crew located the site this afternoon where a helicopter had crashed late Saturday afternoon in rugged terrain in northern San Diego County. The CAP was alerted by the United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. The AFRCC immediately notified the CAP of a possible aircraft crash in the Southern California area. The CAP dispatched an aircraft and aircrew Sunday afternoon to locate the source of a radio distress signal believed to be coming from an aircraft Emergency Locator Transmitter in the Ramona or Julian area of northern San Diego County, approximately 25 miles north of San Diego, according to Capt. Bob Keilholtz, a spokesman and Incident Commander with the CAP.

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December 20, 1968: Two California Civil Air Patrol Members Killed While Searching for Missing Airplane

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On this date, two members of the California Civil Air Patrol were killed when their search plane crashed into Tecate Peak in California while searching for a missing Piper Cherokee PA-28-100.  The Piper had indeed crashed killing all three on board.  That plane was located December 24, 1968.

An excerpt from LOSTFLIGHTS:

As the flight progressed westerly towards San Diego, the turbulence and visibilty became increasingly worse near the mountainous Laguna Range. Fighting turbulence and spatial disorientation, it was not long before the single-engine Piper departed controlled flight (possible in-flight breakup) and impacted the snow covered slopes of Cuyapaipe Mountain fifty miles east of it's destination. All three were killed.

The next day an air search was mounted for the missing aircraft which was mostly conducted in poor weather conditions. Tragedy struck twice while in the process of the search, two members of the local Civil Air Patrol were killed when their own plane collided with nearby Tecate Peak. 

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November 8, 2007: Two CAP Members Die in Crash During Fossett Search in Nevada

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On this date in 2007, the Civil Air Patrol lost two members during their search for adventurer Steve Fossett when their single-engine CAP Cessna 182 Skylane crashed into Mount Potosi southwest of Las Vegas.

An excerpt from a Nevada blog:

The crash was estimated to be about 1,300 feet from the top of the 8,514 foot tall Mount Potosi, according to the National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report. The glass cockpit Cessna 182 was destroyed by fire. Killed were the Nevada Wing Commander of the Civil Air Patrol, Colonel Dion E. DeCamp and the Pacific Region Director of Operations and a former national vice commander, Colonel Edwin W. Lewis Jr.   The National Transportation Safety Board Report

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October 16, 1944: Vermont CAP Cadets Save Member of Bomber Crew Crash

On this date in 1944, five Cadets in the Vermont Civil Air Patrol saved one of the crew members of an AAF bomber that crashed, one of the worst aviation disasters in the Green Mountain State's history.


An excerpt from the National Capital Wing's website:

According to a WCAX-TV report, a U.S. Air Force bomber was on a routine mission in 1944 when it crashed into the side of the mountain with 10 crewmen onboard. Nine of the men died, but 18-year-old Jimmy Wilson was saved, thanks to the heroic efforts of five Civil Air Patrol cadets.

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August 15, 2008: Colorado CAP Searches for Plane with Missing Texas Family

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On this date in 2008, Colorado Civil Air Patrol aircraft were called in to search for a plane carrying a family from Texas in the Steamboat Springs area.


An excerpt from the Steamboat (Colo.) Pilot:

Routt County — Civil Air Patrol is searching for a missing Texas family who departed the Steamboat Springs Airport on a private plane Friday morning and never made it to their destination. The family of four, two adults and two children, failed to arrive in eastern Texas as scheduled Friday, and concerned family contacted Civil Air Patrol on Saturday, Maj. Mark Young said.

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July 17, 1999: Civil Air Patrol Joins Search for John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s Airplane

On this date in 1999, Civil Air Patrol aircraft joined in a massive air and sea search for John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s missing 1995 Piper Saratoga II HP.  The plane apparently crashed the evning of July 16, 1999 on a flight from New Jersey to the Kennedy compound on Martha's Vineyard.  Kennedy, the son of the slain President John F. Kennedy, his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister Lauren Bessette, were all killed.

An excerpt from Newsweek:

Between 7:30 and 7:55 Saturday morning, a C-130, 15 Civil Air Patrol planes, two Coast Guard helicopters, an Air National Guard chopper and a UH-25 Falcon took to the skies. A virtual armada--Coast Guard cutters, utility boats, patrol boats and search-and-rescue ships--combed an area 190 nautical miles long by 20 miles wide between Long Island and Cape Cod. By noon, the Air Force had turned to the intelligence community, asking the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, which reports to the director of Central Intelligence, to pull the CIA into the search. Intelligence sources tell NEWSWEEK that three advanced KH-11 photographic satellites in a standard polar orbit were in position to pass over the entire search area at different times.

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June 17, 2008: Hawaiian CAP Assists in Search for Missing Tour Plane

On this date in 2008, the Hawaiian Civil Air Patrol aircraft were assisting in the search of a Cessna 172 tour plane.

An excerpt from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 plane continued searching through the night and into this morning for a missing single-engine tour plane that disappeared yesterday afternoon somewhere over or near the Big Island with a pilot and two passengers from Japan on board.

Five aircraft from the Coast Guard, Hawaii County, and Civil Air Patrol were searching along the southern shores and inland, county Civil Defense director Quince Mento said.

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May 25, 1998: Massachusetts CAP Plane Crash Kills Two Crew Members

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On this date in 1998, a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182 crashed in Massachusetts during a training flight, killing both crew members.

An excerpt from Aviation Safety Network:

The Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182 was conducting what was briefed as a 1 hour instrument proficiency flight. After 30 minutes the pilots cancelled the instrument flight rules clearance and the flight continued under visual flight rules. About 15 minutes later the airplane was observed to conduct a low approach to a private airport, and then initiated a climbing right turn. During the climb, the bank increased and the airplane descended into trees with no change in engine power.

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May 21, 2003: South Dakota CAP Locates Gyrocopter Crash Site

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On this date, the South Dakota Civil Air Patrol located the site of a fatal gyrocopter crash.

An excerpt from the SDWG and the Codington County Sheriff's Office:

At approximately 12:45 p.m., on May 21, 2003, wreckage was spotted by the Civil Air Patrol approximately 1 – 3/4 miles northeast of South Shore. The aircraft was piloted by one subject who did not survive the crash. The Codington County Sheriffs Office, Codington County Emergency Management, the Civil Air Patrol, and the National Transportation Safety Board will be conducting an investigation at the crash site, which is located in a remote, hilly, pasture region northeast of South Shore.

The private helicopter disappeared early Monday morning after it departed Sioux Falls for the Watertown/Sisseton area on a trip originating in Kansas.  The aircraft had no emergency locator transmitter on board.  CAP has been conducting an airborne and ground visual search during daylight hours, and following up leads and reports from the public, since mid-day Monday.

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May 20, 2009: Florida CAP Finds Fatal Crash Site of Parachute-Deployed Aircraft

On this date, the Florida Civil Air Patrol spotted the wreckage of a Cirrus SR20 that had crashed May 19, 2009 while on a training.  Both the pilot and student were killed.  The plane was equipped with a ballistic parachute.

An excerpt from  Velozia Air:

A Cirrus SR20 single-engine plane belonging to The Delta Connection Academy flight school crashed 15 miles northeast of Sanford, Florida (near Orlando) while on a routine training flight.  The occupants of the airplane, instructor Adi Atkinson and student Derek Fox, were killed on impact.  Even though witnesses had seen the plane crash around 2:30 pm on Tuesday, authorities didn’t reach the crash scene until after 4:00 am on Wednesday.

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May 18, 1990: Virginia CAP Locates Site of Six Fatality Plane Crash

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On this date in 1990, the Virigina Civil Air Patrol assisted in locating a missing light plane that had been missing after taking off from North Carolina.  All six souls on board died in the crash.

An excerpt from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

The bodies of the Washington area men, who left North Carolina in a Cessna 210 enroute to Winchester last Thursday, were found by a ground search team amid plane debris about two miles south of the community of Shady Grove Corner.

A 10-member Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference team had been combing the heavily wooded terrain since early yesterday when [Doug DeBoer]'s brother discovered plane debris about two miles off state Route 612. The name of DeBoer's brother was unavailable.

The search drew scores of personnel and volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol, Virginia National Guard, personnel from the Coast Guard and Quantico Marine Corps Base, as well the state police and the emergency services department. The Appalachian search conference, whose team discovered the bodies, is a Charlottesville-based group of volunteers trained in search and rescue techniques.

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May 17, 2007: Alabama CAP Finds Site of Fatal Helicopter Crash

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On this date, members of the Alabama Civil Air Patrol found the crash site of a fatal helicopter crash.

An excerpt from KTKA-TV.

Rescue crews recovered the body of John Scott, 26, of Pomona (Kansas), after a two-day search.

He was flying alone from Lakeland, Fla. to Topeka, when the helicopter crashed in a heavily forested region of north Alabama Sunday.

The helicopter went down in the Bankhead National Forest, which covers about 180,000-acres. Scott was found dead in the wreckage.

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May 13, 2008: North Carolina CAP Aircrew Discovers Aircraft Wreckage

On this date, an aircrew from the North Carolina Wing of the Civil Air Patrol located the wreckage of a plane crash in western North Carolina.

An excerpt from a press release from the NCWG: 

RALEIGH, N.C. – The wreckage of a missing single-engine Piper PA-32-260 was located about 9:10 a.m. today near Cold Mountain in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area along the Haywood and Transylvania County lines in western North Carolina.

The aircraft had left Rutherford County Airport in North Carolina about 5 a.m. May 12 bound for North Little Rock Municipal Airport in Arkansas. After the aircraft was reported overdue, the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center notified the North Carolina Wing of the Civil Air Patrol to begin a search.

The search continued this morning with three CAP aircraft and the assistance of a North Carolina Highway Patrol helicopter, as well as four ground teams from the North and South Carolina wings of the Civil Air Patrol, members of the Cruso Fire Department and the Haywood County Rescue Squad.

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May 10, 2006: Pennsylvania CAP Squadron Secures Fatal Plane Crash Site

On this date in 2006, the Somerset County Composite Squadron 1502 was called in to secure the scene of a fatal plane crash in Pennsylvania.

An excerpt from the Keystone Wing Slip is at below left.

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