AF accident in MS - skies cleared for CAP AFTER find?

[RiverAux]

This is a link http://www.cdispatch.com/articles/2007/11/29/local_news/local01.txt to a story about a mid-air accident involving two AF training planes in MS.  In it is this quote:

The Federal Aviation Administration has restricted air space within a 10-mile radius of the scene. Civil Air Patrol was the only aircraft allowed in the skies over the scene.

I can't think of many good reasons to restrict the airspace over a crash after it has been found.  Maybe if it was a major incident involving a few jetliners and traffic control became an issue, but this was a fairly small incident all things considered. 

I imagine the CAP planes are there looking for the missing ejection seats, but I can't imagine that there is a big outpouring of volunteer pilots trying to help that would be crowding up the area.  Also can't imagine media helicopters sticking around for very long after getting shots of the actual crash site. 

So, why the TFR? 

If nothing else this case shows that it must not be very hard to convince the FAA to do a TFR. 

[Al Sayre]

There's more to the story, but I can't put it here...

[isuhawkeye]

I have restricted airspace over relatively small incidents to keep transient, lerkers, and news entities from interfering with operations (even ground operations). 

[RiverAux]

CAP News Online:

Civil Air Patrol aircrew finds crashed Air Force trainer planes

Aircrew and ground teams locate ejection seats that saved instructor, student pilots November 30, 2007

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS – A Civil Air Patrol aircrew was called to action early Wednesday afternoon when two Air Force trainer planes from Columbus Air Force Base collided in a wooded area of northeast Mississippi.

All four pilots, two instructors and two student pilots, ejected from their T-6 "Texan II" trainer planes and parachuted to safety.

An aircrew led by CAP pilot Lt. Col. Mike Hainsey found both crash sites late Wednesday afternoon near Shuqualak, Miss., about 30 miles south of Columbus. The first site was found within five minutes of arriving on the scene by tracking the emergency locator transmitter (ELT) located in the wreckage. After coordinating with the Air Force response team on the ground, the aircrew was able to locate the second crash site in a heavily wooded area about a mile from the first downed aircraft. On Thursday morning, a ground team located the last mission ejection seat within the first hour of searching.

The crash is under investigation, said Sonic Johnson of the Columbus AFB public affairs office. Investigators are being assembled from throughout the Air Force to recreate Wednesday's accident and determine what caused the crash, he said.

Hainsey, executive director of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport in Columbus and a member of CAP's Golden Triangle Composite Squadron, said being a part of Wednesday's mission was a priority for him. A retired Air Force pilot, he once ejected from a T-38 Talon flying out of Columbus AFB. "I have a vested interest in making sure these guys are OK," he said.

Hainsey, former director of emergency services for the Civil Air Patrol's Mississippi Wing, was accompanied Wednesday by CAP mission observer 1st Lt. Trey Breckenridge, the Golden Triangle squadron's commander, and CAP mission scanner 1st Lt. Roger Smith, the squadron's director of emergency services.

"The Air Force had already found the first crash site," Hainsey said. The CAP aircrew quickly located the other crash site in the middle of a pine grove about a mile away from the first crash site.

Hainsey said the planes' ELT signals weren't much help in locating the second crash site because of interference from the ELTs at the first site. "The find was strictly visual," he said. "The plane had hit going straight down so there was no way anyone on the ground could find it without pure luck."

The aircrew also provided aerial photography of the crash sites to assist in the Air Force investigation.

Civil Air Patrol and Columbus Air Force Base officials had both participated in a safety exercise held at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport the day before, Hainsey said. "This mission wouldn't have happened if we didn't have such a great relationship with the Air Force base," he said. "In short, this was a team effort with the Air Force and the entire Mississippi Wing."

A ground team from the Northwest Mississippi Composite Squadron, commanded by Capt. Richard Albee, assisted the search on Thursday, tracking down the ejection seat previous searchers could not find.

Well, that clears up some of the details quite a bit though I still don't see this crash warranting more than 1 news helicopter that would have hovered for 10 minutes and gone away. 

In any case, I'm glad to see CAP being called in so quickly after the accident.  I wonder if the AF went through AFRCC right away (meaning they knew the procedures) or whether they called the locals first.  Calling the locals first would have been technically wrong, but shows that they have a great local relationship.  Easy enough to give them the right number to call. 

[JCW0312]

Hopefully a boost to the CAP and USAF relationship (especially in that region). I'm glad the pilots are all ok.