CAP Aircraft Searching for Steve Fossett

[Flying Pig]

You mean like the C-130 and the Blackhawks droning back and forth?

[mikeylikey]

Anyone of us, would likely get a one day search with 1/100th of the resources used on Fossett.

I have participated in 3 searches lasting a week or more in MD over my years in CAP.  None of them were celebs.  Except in 1 case,  I do not ever recall having a search called off without finding the target, and that was after a 5 day search, and due to weather.

While the resources were smaller than the Fosett search, we regularly search for much longer than 1 day.

In fact a CAP member crashed (not in a CAP A/C) about 2 years ago in MD and the search lasted 5 days before he was found.

I traveled there for one day!

[tribalelder]

Cynical observation from an earlier life when I was a technician on NIH funded research.

Search ended at the end of the fiscal year.  It probably spent every last training dollar for the fiscal year then closing  -- no unspent funds to return to the Treasury. 

[RiverAux]

A Reno newspaper had this as their lead in an article on Fossett search costs (according to the CAP National media coverage page http://www.cap.gov/visitors/news/national_media_coverage.cfm?fuseaction=display&nodeID=6652&newsID=4388&year=2008&month=6  (bold mine)

Costs for the unprecedented search to find missing aviator Steve Fossett in the Nevada desert last year spiraled out of control in an operation marked by the lack of an effective command structure and little way of tracking costs and resources, according to an audit released Wednesday. As the state faces a $1.16 billion shortfall, the search for Fossett cost more than $1.6 million and severely depleted the budget the Nevada National Guard uses to train its members for combat and other missions.

Gov. Jim Gibbons, commander-in-chief of the military in Nevada, took no responsibility for the bungled operation, saying he never made any personal decisions on resources or costs.I left that decision to the head of the department of safety, who was recommending his view of what he saw on the ground in coordination with his department of emergency management, Gibbons said.The level of resources never came to my level for a decision, not that or the dollar amount. I think what was being talked about was the utilization of what resources and what was the effect of hopefully finding Steve Fossett alive. Our concern was for the recovery of that individual.But internal e-mails obtained by Secretary of State Ross Miller cite Gibbons as the one personally responsible for the state's role in the extensive search.

also:

An e-mail written by National Guard Maj. Jeff Zupon summarizing a meeting of emergency management and military officials said Gibbons was personally responsible for the NGNV (Nevada National Guard) continuing the search beyond what would have been a 'normal' search duration.The search extended 17 days and was described by the audit as the largest search and rescue effort ever conducted for a person within the U.S. The Department of Emergency Management and the Nevada National Guard used some of its most expensive equipment during the search.

An official estimated a search for a normal person would last three days.

Gee, I guess when they decided to bring in the "professionals" to run things, it really helped out a lot. 

I think its a little unfair to say that a search for a normal person last 3 days.  A week long unsucessful search is not at all uncommon.  The length of the search was not what made this different -- it was the almost unprecedented involvement of the National Guard and other state agencies in a manner way beyond what is normal. 

Given the unusual involvement of all these other agencies, as well as the "volunteers", I'm not at all surprised that there were apparently command and control problems. 

[sardak]

The audit, which isn't much, is available here:
http://dintaud.state.nv.us/Steve%20Fossett%20final%20report%20pdf.pdf

A few interesting items.
"DEM represents its priority of agencies used for searches are Civil Air Patrol, Guard, and then U.S. Military. At the beginning of the Steve Fossett search, DEM contacted Naval Air Station Fallon for immediate assistance since the Civil Air Patrol does not fly at night, and the Guard would have taken over two hours to respond."

"We surveyed nine states that represent aircraft searches are primarily performed by the Civil Air Patrol. Civil Air Patrol is responsible for providing resources for search and rescue of missing aircraft at no cost to the states."

In a table showing photos of search aircraft, for CAP aircraft it reads "Photograph not available."

"During the search, the Department of Public Safety requested an independent emergency manager to evaluate search efforts."

"However, the independent emergency manager was unable to determine who was responsible for the search."

"The independent emergency manager also indicated the search lacked an effective command structure."

"The independent emergency manager, 13 days into the search, attempted to determine the status of the clue log. He found most clues were written on various pieces of paper, kept in an unorganized cardboard box, and had no indication of whether they had been pursued. The independent emergency manager could not determine the thoroughness of the search because of gaps in documentation. DEM represents it maintained the necessary information on paper, but was unable to organize and summarize it."

Mike

[RiverAux]

Thanks sardak -- I was just going to go searching for the report.

Another interesting point in that part of the Guard's response to the audit was that while they provided some infrastructure for the search, they did not actually operate a command center.  They said that the state DEM and county operated the command center as a unified command post.  This goes against some of what had been previously reported as the Guard assuming control of operations. 

DEM's response said that the unified command initiatally involved them and CAP and expanded to include several counties a few days later. 

Still leaves some unanswered questions about ultimate responsibilty in these situations. 

By the way, the actual audit said that searches where the subject was found usually go 3-5 days and that when they are not found, go 10-15 days.  This is much more in-line with what I've seen.  Clearly the newspaper got that wrong. 

Interesting that the Guard sort of got slammed for ther cost tracking (or lack thereof).  Interesting that CAP has a better program for that than they do.  Well, at least for tracking costs like fuel.  Might not be so good for mission support items. 

The CAP folks should have done a better job with the clue log - they should have known better.  Unfortunately, I've seen situations just as messed up in terms of clues at mission bases I've been at, so I'm not surprised.  C'mon folks, this is supposed to be our bread and butter. 

[arajca]

C'mon folks, this is supposed to be our bread and butter. 

SUPPOSED to be. not IS. In general, CAP doesn't train mission base staff to really perform to a decent level. Which is a serious pet peeve of mine. The glory jobs receive all the training and monies, while those who make the glory jobs possible get squat.

[Short Field]

The CAP folks should have done a better job with the clue log - they should have known better. 

You are assuming CAP received and processed the clues.  Clues went to the consolidated CP or the Ranch CP.  CAP got a verbal or a note to the effect "a pilot flying over XXN XXXW saw a plane on the ground - check it out."

[RiverAux]

Just going by the report which said that CAP was part of the Unified Command.  That being the case, they should have been right on top of the matter. 

[lordmonar]

Just going by the report which said that CAP was part of the Unified Command.  That being the case, they should have been right on top of the matter. 

Being part of a unified command does not mean you are on top of anything.  DEM ran the show.  Clues were passed to them and taskings came from them.  As the new article said...the Fosset search was plagued by command and control issues.....and not necessarily on the part of CAP.

[isuhawkeye]

Thats exactly what unified command means.

Each agency provides an IC to work on command decisions together
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ics/what_is_uc.html

The UC is responsible for overall management of the incident. The UC directs incident activities, including development and implementation of overall objectives and strategies, and approves ordering and releasing of resources. Members of the UC work together to develop a common set of incident objectives and strategies, share information, maximize the use of available resources, and enhance the efficiency of the individual response organizations.

[RiverAux]

Exactly, under Unified Command the different jurisdictions or agencies manage an incident together.  In this situation, if they were truly using Unified Command, then DEM, CAP, and the several counties mentioned would each have an IC that would jointly be setting objectives, strategies, and plans.  Underneath this Unified Command level is the ICS structure we all know.  So, if they were using Unified Command, then the CAP IC involved in the search would have been one of those above the people collecting and managing the clues. 

If that wasn't how it was being managed, then they were not using Unified Command as stated by DEM in the report.   

[Short Field]

IAW the IC 400 class I completed two months ago, a Unified Command has the ICs of all the different jurisdictions and agencies meeting as "equals" to make sure the jurisdictional issues do not become issues.   However, even with a Unified Command, there is STILL only one IC and one Command and General Staff running the show.    ONE VOICE speaking for all. 

By law, in Nevada the DEM is in charge.  The NVWG/CC could speak for CAP but had no control over the multiple agencies, National Guard, and county sheriffs departments.   

[JohnKachenmeister]

"CAP does not fly at night?"

Who said THAT??? 

In this case, it would not have been productive to fly at night, because the aircraft was not equipped with an ELT.  If it had been, an electronic search should have been made, even if the alert came at night.

I have worked LOTS of missions at night.

Unless NV Wing is afraid of the dark!   

[isuhawkeye]

^^^ I was thinking the same thing

[ßτε]

Just wondering at what altitude you would fly night ELT searches in the Sierra Nevadas?

[isuhawkeye]

The entire state is not mountainous.

Is the no night flight restriction blanketed through the entire state, or is it s game time call by an IC???

The report makes it look like this wing does no night missions at all

[mikeylikey]

I am still amazed at the amount of money spent on this search (for one person). 

[RiverAux]

IAW the IC 400 class I completed two months ago, a Unified Command has the ICs of all the different jurisdictions and agencies meeting as "equals" to make sure the jurisdictional issues do not become issues.   However, even with a Unified Command, there is STILL only one IC and one Command and General Staff running the show.    ONE VOICE speaking for all. 

By law, in Nevada the DEM is in charge.  The NVWG/CC could speak for CAP but had no control over the multiple agencies, National Guard, and county sheriffs departments.   

Unified Command is covered in unit 3 of ICS 300.  It features what is basically a committee of the ICs from the different agencies that jointly set the direction.  This group is over a single ICS system into which all the resources from their agencies  fit. For example, all the DEM and CAP resources would be operating under a single Operations Section Chief. 

Under Unified Command, one of the ICs may be designated as a "spokesperson".  That is the person that communicates to the Command and General Staff.  But, that person does not make independent command decisions and is just a point of contact. 

(PS -- most of what I wrote above is taken directly from the ICS-300 student manual).

I'm not claiming that they were operating a Unified Command though DEM said that is what they used.  However, the fact that they were critisized in the audit for having a confused command and control system indicates that they were probably using some sort of confused hybrid structure and not doing it strictly by the book.

[RiverAux]

Some other interesting items from the audit report --

CAP flew 1,538 hours vs 355 hours for the National Guard and 13 hours from the NV Highway Patrol.  The private pilots hours weren't reported. 

This search highlights the cost effectiveness of CAP -- The costs for 2 UH-60s alone was $516,000.  Presumably this is just flying cost and not salaries.  The 2 OH-58s cost $111,000.  We all know that there are quite a few situations where it is better to use helicopters than fixed wing, but that sure doesn't apply to a scenario with a huge search area where there aren't any great clues.  Putting them out on the equivalent of grid searches sure wouldn't be a good fiscal move.  The best thing to do would probably be to keep the helicopters in reserve and use them to follow up on site-specific clues or potential finds.   

NV probably spent twice as much on pay for the National Guard labor than the entire cost of the CAP search.  Their total pay cost was $70,000.