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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February 17, 2005: Nevada CAP Spots Downed Plane, Pilot

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On this date in 2005, a day after a plane went down in a rugged area of Nevada, the Nevada Civil Air Patrol spotted the wreckage and the pilot, who lived to tell the tale.

An excerpt from the Montrose (Nev.) Press:

MONTROSE - The emergency transmitter's battery could have died. The search could have been abandoned. So much could have gone wrong, but somehow, everything turned out just right for the pilot of a small plane that crashed on the Uncompahgre Plateau Wednesday.    Scott Thurner, 57, of Milwaukee was found alive with minor injuries after search and rescue personnel Thursday spotted the wreckage of Thurner's Cessna 172 in a canyon south of Raspberry Tower, which is located just west of the top of Highway 90 approximately 20 miles west of Montrose.  He was treated for cuts and bruises at Montrose Memorial Hospital shortly after 10:30 p.m. Thursday- close to 30 hours since crash landing into some trees.

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

Image via Wikipedia

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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September 18, 2007: Nevada Civil Air Patrol Scales Down Search for Steve Fossett

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On this date in 2007, the Nevada Wing of the Civil Air Patrol reduced its search for missing adventurer Steve Fossett.

An excerpt from the BBC:

The search for US adventurer Steve Fossett has been scaled back two weeks after his plane vanished over the Nevada wilderness, officials say.

Nevada Civil Air Patrol has suspended aerial searches and put two planes on standby to follow any new leads.

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April 25, 2009: CAP Takes to the Sky in Search of Missing Motorized Sailplane in Sierra Nevadas

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 On this date in 2009, the Civil Air Patrol members from California and Nevada were called out to assist in the search of a missing pilot and passenger in the Sierra Nevadas.

An excerpt from a release from Nellis AFB:

5/6/2009 - MERCED, Calif. (AFNS) -- An HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue crew from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., found the wreckage an overdue aircraft in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range May 1.

The missing aircraft was the subject of the large-scale search by state officials and Civil Air Patrol members, but there were no survivors from the wreckage.

The family of the incident has been notified. 

Four helicopters and 24 Airmen from the 58th and 66th Rescue squadrons deployed to assist in the search for a pilot and passenger who were aboard a motorized sailplane that disappeared from radar April 24 near Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

The couple was reported overdue when they failed to arrive in Modesto, Calif. on a flight from Tonopah, Nev. The Civil Air Patrol was activated by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and a full scale search was initiated April 25.

Over the next week, more than 200 Civil Air Patrol members from throughout California and Nevada flew more than 150 missions in support of the search. They were joined by helicopters from the California National Guard at Moffett Federal Airfield and personnel and aircraft from the 58th and 66th Rescue squadrons.

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February 20, 2003: CAP Assets Called into Search for Space Shuttle Columbia Debris

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On this date in 2003, the Civil Air Patrol was called into assist NASA in finding debris of the Space Shuttle Columbia which broke apart on reentry on February 1, 2003.

An excerpt from spaceref.com:

Video imagery of Columbia's entry provided to NASA was analyzed by imagery, trajectory and ballistics experts. The results of that analysis were then provided to National Transportation Safety Board officials who reviewed air traffic control radar imagery in that area during the time of Columbia's descent. The review resulted in what is believed to be a significant radar track of a piece of debris as it fell to Earth. As a result, a search of the Caliente area near the Nevada-Utah border is under way using Civil Air Patrol assets. A search using additional means also may be forthcoming.

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February 18, 1969: Nevada CAP Sends out Ground Teams to Crash That Killed 35

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On this date in 1969, the Nevada Civil Air Patrol sent out ground teams to look for a DC-3 that crashed after a trip gambling in Nevada. The crash killed all 35 people on board.

Don Jordan also has an extensive write-up about the tragedy.

An excerpt from the AP story:

Hawthorne, Nev. (AP) -- A plane carrying 35 persons back to Southern California after a night of Nevada gambline vanished Tuesday in the mountainous desert of the California-Nevada border 200 miles north of Los Angeles.  An all-day ground hunt in a drizzling overcast produced no clues, and only one search plane was able to get aloft.  A rancher 60 miles south of Hawthorne reported he heard a low-flying plane at 4:20 a.m. The Civil Air Patrol sent two ground search teams into the area.  "It sounds good. It is a good lead," said Col. JAMES HELM of the CAP Walker Lake Squadron.

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