- Maj Blank
- Maj DeFord
- Maj Fridell
- Maj Johnson/C
- Maj Michelogiannakis
- Capt Brown
- Capt Hayes
- Capt Perreira
- Capt Rivas
- Capt Stevulak
- 1st Lt Choate
- 1st Lt Hollerbach
- 1st Lt Roberts
- 1st Lt Rugroden
- 1st Lt Spears
- 2d Lt Baldwin
Please see the following CAP press release for additional information.
June 13, 2017
Missing Aircraft Located
CALAVERAS, Calif. – Ground and air search crews coordinated by the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department located the wreckage of a missing Beechcraft aircraft with a single pilot on board Tuesday in the mountainous terrain west of Mountain Ranch. There was no survivor.
The aircraft was located by Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department ground teams around noon.
The aircraft took off from the Grayson area Friday, and was expected to land at Columbia Airport in Columbia. The aircraft was reported overdue after the pilot’s wife alerted Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department that he had not arrived as planned.
The California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was activated in the early hours Saturday morning by the U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, located at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, to initiate a search for the missing aircraft. A CAP aircrew flew an electronic route search Saturday morning, but heard no pings from the aircraft’s emergency locator transmitter.
Mutual-aid teams coordinated by the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department and the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) continued search efforts throughout the weekend and into the week, together with CAP aircraft and ground teams searching the very rugged rural terrain of Calaveras County. CAP set up an aircraft staging area at Columbia Airport to better support the search efforts.
Weather impeded the air sorties most of the day Sunday, but ground crews continued their search for the missing aircraft. The California Air National Guard and California Highway Patrol also assisted in the search.
Early Tuesday morning, CAP aircrews launched from Palo Alto, Concord, and Merced to continue aerial visual and electronic search. Ground teams from numerous agencies were deployed, some being inserted by way of National Guard helicopters.
Data obtained from Civil Air Patrol’s National Radar Analysis Team provided a focal point for the search, which significantly increased the chances of locating the aircraft, said Maj. Jacqueline Tubis, CAP’s Incident Commander for today’s search efforts.
“We always hope for a better outcome in these situations, and we are grateful that we were able to collaborate with the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office and CalOES, but more importantly, help bring closure to his family,” Tubis said.
A total of 65 CAP professional volunteers, five CAP aircraft and three CAP vehicles were used in the search mission.
Further questions regarding the aircraft search and find should be directed to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department.
Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force, which consists of regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with Air Force retired military and civilian employees. CAP, in its Total Force role, operates a fleet of 550 aircraft and performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 78 lives annually. Civil Air Patrol’s 56,000 members nationwide also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Its members additionally play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to more than 24,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. Performing missions for America for the past 75 years, CAP received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2014 in honor of the heroic efforts of its World War II veterans. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.capvolunteernow.com for more information.
CAP contact:
Lt Col Reynold Lopez, CAP
Public Information Officer
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