Two Moody rescue squadrons assist in locating missing aircraft

  • Published
  • By 1st. Lt. Matthew Scherzi
  • California Wing, Civil Air Patrol
MERCED, Calif. --  The Civil Air Patrol has ended its participation in an interagency effort to locate an overdue aircraft in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, May 1. Wreckage spotted by a U.S. Air Force Pavehawk rescue helicopter from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., in Mono County, Calif., has been verified as the aircraft that was the subject of the large-scale search. There were no survivors and the family has been notified.

Described as a motorized sailplane, the aircraft had a pilot and passenger aboard when it disappeared from radar near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., April. 24. The couple was reported overdue April 24 when they failed to arrive in Modesto, Calif. on a flight from Tonopah, Nevada. 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 over 150 missions in support of the search over some of the most dangerous terrain in the United States. 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 at Nellis AFB, Nev. 

The 58th and 66th Rescue Squadrons are part of the 563rd Rescue Group, which is a geographically-separated unit of the 23rd Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Ga.

Flight crews braved high winds, treacherous terrain and altitudes as high as 17,500 feet altitude during the last week. High altitude flight requiring the use of oxygen provided additional operational and logistical challenges.

The Mono County Sheriff's Office was involved from the start, as was the California Emergency Management Agency. The Sheriff's Office provided much local knowledge, as well as the use of their Search and Rescue Command Post and deputies. CALEMA was instrumental in marshalling local and state assets for this search.

Incident Commander 1st. Lt. Tolga Tarhan said, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families at this difficult time."

The Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with 55,600 members nationwide. CAP performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 91 lives in fiscal year 2008. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the nearly 22,000 young people currently participating in CAP cadet programs. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 67 years. 

(Charles Ramey, Nellis Air Force Base Public Affairs contributed to this report)