Nellis Airmen locate missing aircraft

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev.- Airman 1st Class Christopher Mallaire, a crew chief with the 763rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, prepares to taxi out an HH-60G Pavehawk helicopter departing for a real-world rescue mission May 1. Four helicopters and approximately 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 in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range near Mammoth Lakes, Calif., April. 24. The aircraft was flying between Tonopah, Nev., and Modesto, Calif., and a search began about an hour after the plane was overdue. As of April 30, the Civil Air Patrol and other agencies had flown more than 140 sorties in a 2,500 square-mile search area. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center requested the assistance of the Nellis-based aircraft May 1, and within an hour of arriving on scene, the search ended when an HH-60 aircrew spotted and positively identified the missing aircraft. The 58th and 66th Rescue Squadrons are subordinate units of the 23rd Wing based at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. (U.S. Air Force photo by/Senior Airman Nadine Y. Barclay/RELEASED)