CAP S&R 3

Ground teams searching out a downed aircraft is tough work. Very often in our part of the country, there just isn't a close road, or even a clearing to let down a helicopter to get close, so a few days worth of supplies are needed. Don't forget there isn't going to be a trail of any kind to get you where you are going.

The main job of the CAP is the air search. At the time I was in the organization, and it may well be the same now, is that Washington state has more lost, and never found, small aircraft of any other state excepting Alaska. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out why. This state has a LOT of wilderness, and even in National Forests that may have been logged in the past, there are thousands of square miles of minimally accessible lands. Another main reason, is from the state nick name, the Evergreen state. Unlike hardwood trees of other areas of the country, our trees provide a canopy over the ground all year. And the trees are springy. Think of a unpowered small plane, it goes into the trees. Very few branches actually break, they bend, snap back up, and there is darn near no trace that anything happened.

Private pilots get into to trouble pretty often compared to commercial planes. Often they just get in over their heads, or the weather changes, or the plane has a failure. When you just have a single engine, that can be pretty bad news, pretty quickly. A fair percentage run into issues crossing the state, going over the cascades. The state, understanding that 'stuff' happens have built two emergency airstrips, one on each side of the Cascade crest. Easton State Emergency is on the East side, and has developed into a minor field that serves some private planes. I 'may' have stores about that field, if I get enticed to share someday. The other, called Bandera State Emergency is just a grassy strip, surrounded by trees, no services and is located on the West side of the mountains. They are located on aeronautical charts and serve as a life ring for pilots that get in trouble crossing the mountains.

Ok, say a small plane goes missing, what is a typical chain of events? First off, keeping track and having a good start, depends on the pilot making a flight plan. This simple step has pilots fill out a paper (or now electronic) form stating the origin, destination, time of planned flight, description of the airplane, contact phones, etc. A flight plan, for VFR (Visual Flight Rules) is NOT required, and more than a few pilots don't bother. That lazyness makes this harder. So first thing to discover is that a plane is overdue. Did they just forget to call family? Or call to close that flight plan? Sometimes the call for help, comes very late after a plane goes missing.

Ok. How missing is it? The first steps are an airfield search, and queries to the FAA Air Traffic system to try and determine the last contact, and if the plane is just parked at a field, and the pilot went out to dinner, forgetting to let anyone know he arrived. Let's assume the plane isn't parked someplace, and the plane is officially overdue.

The state authorities will call the Air Force search coordination center and declare a plane overdue, and presumed missing. The word goes out by phone to the state aviation office, authorizing the search. Organizations, such as the Civil Air Patrol, as well as Sate Patrol, Sheriff offices and others are notified and pre-planned steps are put in motion.

In the CAP, the duty officer at Wing (State) Headquarters, will get in touch with the Net Control radio station. From there, a "REDCAP PRIORITY" will be sent to all Squadron radio stations, with the direction to alert all of those members that are search qualified. Information on the presumed route of the target plane, and the designation of the initial search base airfield will be included in the messages.

Some detective work is done, to determine the initial search area. If the pilot was in contact with a tower, or regional center, that may give a good clue where to start. Some initial work with charts is done. What hazards may be between the last know position and the destination? Think mountain peaks or the like. Did the pilot have any known medical conditions? When a condition could possibility cause a loss of consciousness, it's important to know if the pilot was right or left handed. Why? As he was likely clutching the wheel, and the dominant hand and arm is heavier, causing the plane to perhaps curve in that direction off of the nominal flight path.

Member pilots will arrange for getting their planes to the search base, base support members will get in work uniforms, grab overnight gear (Sleeping bags, etc. etc.) and car pools will be arranged to get the people to the base. One of the first tasks will be be get a radio station setup. This may start by just using a mobile radio that is one one of the cars or other CAP vehicles. On some searches, I've worked in camping trailers or motor homes with coax going out the windows, and portable antennas setup at the base. Some members will deploy to the aircraft parking area, and assist with staging, and fueling aircraft. There will always be a fuel station at the base, and that 'gas station' will sell fuel as usual, but as this is an authorized search, the support crew will be logging the fuel charges, airplane number, etc for reimbursement by the Air Force.

The radio people will be handling contacts with the squadrons around the state, keeping people informed if more people are needed, etc. In addition, they will be in regular contact with the FAA FSS (Flight Service Station), to get updated weather information. That information, along with any other clues are passed to a briefing officer that plans each search sortie. A target area is given, radio callsigns verified, and always, a safety briefing is given. In addition to the pilot, there would be 1 to 3 observers (always senior members, never cadets) that fly and will be the eyes of the search. The pilot is firmly reminded that his sole responsibility is flying the aircraft. The observers do the searching! They will know the color of the target plane and other information that may assist in finding the plane. The operations officers and assistants keep very close watch on the search planes, keep in regular radio contact and expected arrival back at the search field. The last thing needed is to have to start a search for another plane.

The search will continue, dawn to dusk, for a number of days, sometimes into weeks. Sometimes the search field is changed to cover a new area. Too often, the search is called off due to lack of leads, uncertain flight path, or bad weather. That means the plane may only be found by some hunter months, years or even decades in the future. Or it may just be added to the list of missing that the state has already accumulated.

Dad