December 2, 1985: New Jersey Wing Locates Downed Beechcraft Travelair

Image via WikipediaOn this date, the New Jersey Wing of the Civil Air Patrol located the fatal wreckage of a Beechcraft Travelair near a wildlife refuge near Millville, N.J.

An excerpt from the New York Times:

The dead were identified by Millville Hospital as Roger King, 53 years old, the pilot, and his wife, Patricia, 51, of Millville.

The local Civil Air Patrol picked up an emergency transmitter signal from the wreckage at 6:45 A.M., and a Coast Guard helicopter spotted the aircraft through the trees.

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January 2, 2007: Colorado Wing Flies Patrols Following Blizzard

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On January 2, 2007, the Colorado Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was out flying patrols looking for missing people and animals following a blizzard.


From NPR:

Drifting Snow Leaves People Stranded in Colorado : NPR: "A blizzard last week dumped several feet of snow in parts of Colorado and neighboring states. It was the second storm to hit the area in quick succession.

Col. Greg Cortum of Colorado's Civil Air Patrol talks to Renee Montagne about efforts to rescue stranded people and livestock."

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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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April 10, 2007: NPR Discusses Loudspeakers on CAP SAR Aircraft

On this date, April 10, 2007, NPR highlighted the possibility of CAP search and rescue aircraft using loud speakers.

From NPR:

Rescuers See Benefit in Search-Plane Loudspeakers : NPR: "Advocates say that in the event of a lost child or an approaching tsunami, Civil Air Patrol pilots could help by broadcasting messages to people on the ground from more than a mile away.

Scott Bakker, commander of the Civil Air Patrol's 105th Squadron in Oregon, talks to Melissa Block about the new loudspeakers."

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March 19, 1970: Bridgeport, Washington CAP Squadron Leads Search for Missing Plane

On this date in 1970s, the Bridgeport (Washington) CAP Squadron continued to lead the search for a missing aircraft in Washington State.

The newspaper clipping from the Brewster Herald-Reporter is courtesy of Mark Hess, Lt Col, CAP, Georgia Wing.

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January 6, 2007: Colorado CAP Searches for Stranded Drivers, Cattle After Blizzard

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On this date in 2007, the Colorado Civil Air Patrol searched for stranded travelers and cattle following a massive blizzard.

An excerpt from the Washington Times:

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) sent six planes into the air yesterday over Colorado's Kit Carson County, where there had been reports of more people snowbound along Interstate 70, even though that highway was reopened Sunday after two days, patrol 1st Lt. Steve Hamilton said. On Sunday, CAP crews spotted two stranded vehicles with five persons near the Kansas state line, along with several trucks whose crews chose to stay with their rigs, Lt. Hamilton said.

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December 29, 1998: New Hampshire CAP Helps in Search for Fatal Crash

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On this date, the New Hampshire Wing of the Civil Air Patrol assisted in the search of a single engine Piper Arrow carrying two New Jersey men.  The plane fatally crashed in the mountains.

An excerpt from the New York Times:

The plane took off from the Berlin Airport in Milan, N.H. about 7:30 P.M. on Sunday and headed south. Air traffic controllers tracked it as it climbed to about 5,600 feet, but then it disappeared from their radar, according to the Civil Air Patrol's New Hampshire Wing.

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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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December 18, 1982: WVWG Assists in Finding Downed Medivac Helicopter

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On this date, the West Virginia Wing of the Civil Air Patrol assisted in the search of a fatal Medivac helicopter crash near Beverly, W.Va.

An excerpt from the New York Times;

A medical transport helicopter that crashed while ferrying a critically ill heart patient was found today by searchers and all three people aboard were dead, the state police said.

The helicopter ''was tore all to pieces,'' said Maj. Kermit Miller of the Civil Air Patrol.

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December 13, 2009: ORWG Participates in Mount Hood Search and Rescue of Climbers

Image via WikipediaOn this date, the Oregon Civil Air Patrol assisted the U.S. Coast Guard and local search and rescue teams in attempting to three lost climbers on Mount Hood.

An excerpt from the Salem News (Ore.):

Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, Search and Rescue Coordinators and volunteers remain actively engaged in the ongoing rescue mission on Mount Hood. One of the climbers died on the mountain and has been recovered, but his two climbing partners remain missing.

"The Oregon Army National Guard has deployed a helicopter to Mount Hood to assist with this aerial surveillance requested by the Sheriff's Office. In addition, a Civil Air Patrol fixed wing aircraft is also participating in this search and focusing attention around the targeted Reid Glacier, at the 9,000' level of Mount Hood."

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December 2, 2004: Alaska Newspaper Details Extensive Search for Pilot

Image via WikipediaOn this date, the Homer (Alaska) News detailed the happy ending of bush pilot Michael Holman's nearly week long ordeal over the Thanksgiving holidy in the wilderness and the Alaska Civil Air Patrol's extensive search to try and find him.

An excerpt:

CAP squadrons from Kenai, Seward and Homer joined the search over the next week. By the time Holman was found, the CAP and guard flew 79 trips and logged 238 hours, searching an area of about 4,000 square miles from Palmer to Seldovia. Pilots from Homer and Seldovia also helped in the search.

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November 28, 2007: Mississippi Wing Finds USAF Trainer Crash Site

On this date, members of the Mississippi Wing of the Civil Air Patrol successfully located the crash locations of two United States Air Force T-6 Texan II trainers.  Both pilots ejected safely.

Commentary from one of the participants in the search:

On November 28, 2007, our Civil Air Patrol Squadron was called to search for the wreckages of a crash of two T-6 Texan II trainer aircraft based at Columbus Air Force Base in Columbus, Mississippi. The aircraft had collided in mid-air near an auxilliary air strip near Shuqualak, Mississippi. . . Our mission was to locate the aircraft and photograph the crash sites. . .  Although the air crew of this plane had been recovered, they had apparently been walking some distance when they were found, and so the location of this crash site was unknown until our aircrew found it.

Photo by Roger Smith.
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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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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 31, 2009: DNN Reports Alaska CAP Delivers Tons of Sled Dog Food

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On this date, the Disaster News Network reported that the Alaska Wing of the Civil Air Patrol had helped to deliver tons of sled dog food to Alaskan villages stranded by flooding and dependent upon dog sleds.

An excerpt from DNN:

The most immediate need to the villages of Eagle, Stevens Village, Circle and Tanana is approximately 8,000 pounds of dog food per week due to the large population of sled dogs in that portion of Alaska. According to officials, 10,000 pounds was delivered to these villages May, 25 by way of airplane provided by Samaritan’s Purse and the Civil Air Patrol in association with AKVOAD, the Alaska Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and private individuals.

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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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