CAP Aircraft Searching for Steve Fossett

[CadetProgramGuy]

Caption from abcnews.com picture of CAP colonel at controls of a Cessna. Can you spot the error?

"Civil Air Patrol pilot Col. Ed Lewis scans the area near Yerington, Nev., where millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett took off Monday, while searching for the missing aviator. The search footprint for the adventurer was expanded today from 600 square feet to 10,000 square feet -- an area roughly the size of Massachusetts. (Robert Durell, Pool/AP Photo)"

Emphasis mine......

[RiverAux]

C'mon, I KNOW that some of you ES geeks are actually using that Google search tool http://www.mturk.com/mturk/preview?groupId=9TSZK4G35XEZJZG21T60&kw=storyin hopes that you'll find him before the aircrews....  Its stuff like this and the quick google reaction after the KS tornado that make me think that in the not so distant future quick satellite imagary will have a negative impact on CAP's participation in aerial photography after big disasters. 

[flyerthom]

Put an update in the other thread.

[JC004]

Caption from abcnews.com picture of CAP colonel at controls of a Cessna. Can you spot the error?

"Civil Air Patrol pilot Col. Ed Lewis scans the area near Yerington, Nev., where millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett took off Monday, while searching for the missing aviator. The search footprint for the adventurer was expanded today from 600 square feet to 10,000 square feet -- an area roughly the size of Massachusetts. (Robert Durell, Pool/AP Photo)"

Emphasis mine......

I know that I haven't spent too much time in Massachusetts, but is it really only 10,000 square feet?  It didn't seem that small when I was there last...

[Trouble]

So how long is the search going to go on?  I've got to wonder if this search is going to set a record for the amount of resources that were used e.g. flying hours, type of aircraft, ground personnel etc?  It's too bad that he didn't at least use some typical VFR "flight following" routine with ATC (but perhaps the low altitude flying wouldn't allow ATC to properly followup him anyways.  BTW anyone know the largest/longest search mission that CAP ever conducted? (probably total flying hours would be the factor)

RADIOMAN015 

We work it until AFRCC decides to suspend the search. It's their call, not ours.
We make inputs, (leads, grid coverage, ground cover, etc.) but it's the AFRCC's decision.
On this particular search mission I can easily see it going for at least two if not three weeks before they pull the plug.
Just because of who the search target is...

I was deployed with CAP on a search in Southern Maryland back in 1993 that lasted for over a month. That guy was no one special, at least no more special than anyone else. 

So, yes its all AFRCC's call.  And with this being a famous person they will probably look as long as they think there is any chance in hell of finding him.

[california IC]

To all:
I was the California IC on the Fossett search working out of our base in Bishop, CA.  We are one of the best kept secrets on this search.  I left the mission yesterday in good hands with the current command staff.
I would like to pass along some issues I have seen on this board that seem to take away from our efforts to locate Mr. Fossett as well as some good things.
1.  The family is very grateful for all the hard work CAP has done.
2.  We will need everyone from CA and NV to support this mission.
     We have had units from far away fly food and sodas with their crews to support a base with limited facilities.  That's teamwork!
3.  The issue with CA kicking out the sheriff as seen on another post is not true.  I was there and escorted the civilian pilot off the base to his helicopter. 
I think a small issue that may or may not have been handled correctly is a waste of time.
Our members, press and family HAVE read the postings and they have done nothing but distract from our hard work at the bases.

Let's continue to work together as a team with the goal to locate Mr. Fossett.

[RiverAux]

The Sep 9 CAP press release on CAP News Online says that only 7 planes were looking for him that day.  That can't be right?

[RiverAux]

The PAO has been doing a fairly good job, but may be putting out some false optimism...

Maj. Cynthia Ryan of the Nevada Civil Air Patrol said Tuesday she's still betting on his "sheer grit and determination."

"We still find people against all odds," said Ryan, who said she was not concerned by a lack of a signal.

"Maybe he's got a couple of broken arms and can't signal," she said.

[floridacyclist]

Its stuff like this and the quick google reaction after the KS tornado that make me think that in the not so distant future quick satellite imagary will have a negative impact on CAP's participation in aerial photography after big disasters. 

And if it does, so what? The goal is to help people and if someone finds a better way to do that, it is a good thing as long as it doesn't degrade the overall effectiveness of the response. My bigger concern is that the scale will turn too far in favor of ease and convenience at the expense of quality of work and POD.

[RiverAux]

I always think it is worth evaluating what services you can provide and what is really needed. 

[0]

The Sep 9 CAP press release on CAP News Online says that only 7 planes were looking for him that day.  That can't be right?

While it is a Press Release for anyone to read, they may be indicating that 7 CAP planes were looking for him.  I don't have much experience with Press Releases for something like this, but they may save the full total for a briefing and just use the information about our part for our press releases as 9 times out of 10 we're the only ones who take the time to read what's posted on our websites.

[NIN]

Got a brief report from Minden via IM just now.

The current "Joke du Jour": CAP has 100% POD.  The USAF has confirmed that they're 100% sure that Steve Fossett is not in R-4808N.

[bosshawk]

If you are interested in real facts and not impressions and speculation, read on.

Just talked to the IC at the CAWG base at Bishop, Ca and he has 12 aircraft in the air today and has two on the ground with no crews available.  He also told me that the Air Force, in the form of the command element of the 129 Rescue Wing, ANG, has taken over umbrella command of the whole search operation.  They have erected a tent at the Minden Airport and are coordinating both wings and trying to coordinate the civilian aircraft operating in this search.

I also was told that the Minden operation will either close or be moved on Friday: seems that Minden is overflow for all the corporate aircraft who come in for the Reno Air Races, which are going on this week.  Airfield becomes jammed with civilian aircraft.

Apparently no end in sight for this search: it is rapidly becoming the largest search certainly in this part of the country and, perhaps, in the history of CAP.

If you are interested and qualified, I am sure that you will be welcome at Bishop.  Also happens to be a spectacularly beautiful place.

[jayleswo]

Hi everyone,

I'm a brand-new mission pilot and was at the Bishop Mission Base Sunday thru Tuesday. We arrived Sunday afternoon when a lot of the crews were leaving. On Monday, we had a change over in IC's as Major Kielholtz needed to leave after running the mission for a week. We had 6 aircraft airborne flying multiple sorties on Monday and 11 aircraft airborne on Tuesday.

I saw a lot of very dedicated people putting their personal lives and work on hold for as long as they could to try and help find a fellow pilot and aviation icon.  Sure, not everything was perfect. What is? But at the end of the day, the small but very dedicated and hard working base staff got sorties launched into grids looking for Mr. Fossett.  I felt part of something signficant and worthy and am very proud of CAP. You should be too.

John Aylesworth, Lt Col
Commander, CA-151

[RiverAux]

Now I'm not familiar with the size of the area actively being searched, but as I just posted in another thread CAP has to be more willing to bring in CAP folks from othe Wings.  Why aren't CAP planes from OR, ID and other states coming in to relieve these folks who have been flying for so long? 

[Eclipse]

Now I'm not familiar with the size of the area actively being searched, but as I just posted in another thread CAP has to be more willing to bring in CAP folks from othe Wings.  Why aren't CAP planes from OR, ID and other states coming in to relieve these folks who have been flying for so long? 

For one thing, cross-country flying increases the ORM numbers, CAP is nothing if not risk-averse.

[arajca]

CO has been put on standby for aircrews and a/c to join the search with a min. 1 week commitment.

[bosshawk]

Welcome to the fray, Colorado.  Utah Wing has had their ARCHER GA-8 Airvan at Minden since the search began.  Assets from other states can only be provided through the good(?)services of the NOC, after they are requested by the ICs of the states conducting the search.  Maybe nobody asked for resources from other states until this thing dragged on into the second week and promises to go into another week. 

somebody asked about the size of the search area: the media is saying that it is about 17000 sq miles.  That isn't a terribly large area when you consider the size of CA and NV put together.  The concentration, I understand, is the circle about 50 miles in diameter from the private airfield that he departed.

I understand from the IC today that the CAP crews are doing a fine job, looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack.

[alice]

The local thrice-weekly newspaper in Bishop, California has been giving page one coverage for the CAWG ops on this search.  The paper has a small staff, so they update their website slowly.  Sept 8's story link below.

http://www.inyoregister.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17456&Itemid=27

Have to agree with John Aylesworth's comments above.  I left the base this morning and while there are a few new wonderful base staff people, more are needed and this is the time for all to call in their kitchen passes and work time-off to be available to help if requested.

Many many thanks to CAWG Group 6's Maureen Pride and friends who brought food to the base on Monday!  Spaghetti and garlic bread being lapped up fast.   More help with logisitics would be nice....care and feeding of troops...send prayers for a DSL line and wi-fi router at base... and a user-friendly IMU... faster F108 processing...  (one can dream of miracles...).

[D242]

Other issues having been resolved, I'd like to pose the question that brought me to this site in the first place, and it has to do with this search.

I've visited Amazon's Mechanical Turk site, and read the information about their effort to assist in this search.

http://www.mturk.com/mturk/preview?groupId=9TSZK4G35XEZJZG21T60&kw=Flash

In part, the instructions say:

Steve's plane will show up as a regular object with sharp edges, white or nearly white, about 21 pixels long and 30 pixels in wingspan.

I know from experience that that isn't necessarily true, and must have been written by somebody with a lack of real world SAR experience. Nevertheless, I'm sure multitudes of people are squinting at satellite images, trying to see something that resembles an airplane.

My question is this--how is this effort impacting the actual search effort? Are any of the tagged images proving to be worth following up on in the field, and if so, is that effort diverting assets that would be otherwise engaged in more conventional ways?

Just curious...