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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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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July 16, 1980: CAP Cadet Allegedly Sees UFO Near Pecos, New Mexico

On this date in 1980, a CAP cadet reported that he allegedly saw a UFO near Pecos, New Mexico.

An excerpt from the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena:

10:30 AM. A Civil Air Patrol cadet along with several other witnesses observed a dull metallic, circular object maneuvering near Pecos, New Mexico. The cadet got closer to the object after it landed in a nearby clearing and took some photographs. He then observed a human looking figure dressed in a metallic suit emerge from the object and walk a few feet away from it. Moments later the figure returned to the object and it quickly took off and flew towards the northwest. The cadet was later approached by a mysterious man who wanted him to turn over the photographs to him. (Source: Timothy Good, Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-Up, p. 407).

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July 5, 1953: UPI Reports 13 States Use CAP Flights to Catch Highway Speeders

On this date, the United Press International reported that 13 states were using Civil Air Patrol airplanes to help catch highway speeders.

An excerpt from the Milwaukee Sentinel:

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July 3, 2006: Arizona Wing's Lt. Col. Bohn Wanamaker Offers 4th of July Thoughts in USA Today

Image by tdepp via Flickr

On this date in 2006, Lt. Col. Bohn E. Wanamaker of the Arizona Wing of the Civil Air Patrol had an essay featured on USA Today's opinion blog on the meaning of the 4th of July.

An excerpt from USA Today:

On this Independence Day, as we raise Old Glory, be still, listen and she will tell of the price paid for the freedom we have in America — paid by those young men who died so that America would be free. They died at Pork Chop Hill, Verdun, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa and Corregidor. And when they died, the American flag wrapped them in love and draped honor over their caskets, on land and on the seas.

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