Any word on the search for "One Missing near Johnson Creek"?
We all know of the short comings of the CAP!
Not enough "Mortals" to many "Experts"!

They scaled back the official search, per media. It said the family was in the area and was going to continue with private efforts. If I was closer I would help if I could.

Sadly it's moved to a 'recovery' effort now, the temp, the snow, the time of year, over a week, any survival right next to impossible. It may be weeks or months now. The sooner the better for the families.

I don't have the exact wx at the time of the mishap. I was just wondering how much he may of been 'hanging it out there'(limited options with VIPs onboard), or was it more a prudent, routine flight gone bad? Is it just a tragic, extremely sad accident, or was there a 'JFK jr factor' involved?

Just some thoughts to help us say, "never again".

Just my own thought. I would think the ear witness can point on the topo map exactly where he was standing or sitting when he heard the noise and then point in the direction he heard the noise from. (I know i could). Might be difficult if he was inside though. It sure would be nice to get the full detailed story from the ear witness. I'm assuming he heard the actual impact noise.

Wish I could help! I have a friend with a Scout that I can sit in the back seat and have very good visibility. I'm really good at spotting game and other odd things from the plane (I have great vision).

But then again and like mentioned many times. White plane-snow-possibly in the trees-very rugged & remote terrain-and possibly nose first, high speed impact??= very very difficult to find right now!

I'm for sure putting a 406 ELT in my plane before I get back flying!!

I was messing around with Google Earth last night. I got the GPS coordinates from FlightAware and FlightTrader.


This shows the last 8 Radar contacts, about the time he may have known he had a problem. The ninth one was from Flight Trader. The first 8 show the altitude at that time. From what I see he did a pretty good job trying to get to Johnson Crk.







This is a closer view. Not sure where the Ear Witness was when he heard the crash sounds.







And one more zoomed in a little more.





ADDED THIS IMAGE AFTER I LEARNED WHERE THE EAR WITNESS WAS:
Maybe the plane is between the last contact I could find and Stibnite. I'm just a dumb pilot who has too much time on my hands and a computer. I wonder where the CAP searched? What was their starting point? I know that is rugged country. It will be very hard to search on foot. I'm sure we will never know where and how CAP conducted the search. Not trying to be negative, just trying to look at it from a different perspective. One more thought. There is approximately 8 minutes from the time we see the start of a decent. I showed he maintained about an average speed of 150 knts. (According to FlightAware http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N36M ... N/tracklog) So 8 minutes @150 knots = approximately 22.6 miles. Just some more to think about.

I heard the ear witness say he was at Stibnite, that's only about 6 miles east of Johnson Creek.

That is some detailed mapping above, last radar hits on the chart. Since they used detailed analysis of the radar track, cell phone hits & anything else I'd think they zeroed in the best they could on where they think it may of went down. It seems the general, likely location is from the JC airport to the mine. Then again, just a minute or 2 of flight, below radar & off cell phone 'pings' can lead to a different trajectory. If he broke out VMC he may of tried to maneuver the best he could based off visual terrain.



I'm willing to bet as he was descending, 'terra firma' in the form of granite came rather quickly & unexpectedly. The higher terrain was likely totally obscured. Just look at the ID accident recently with the elk hunters. The experience pilot was trying to pick his way through & seemed to misjudge an opening.

I"ve been to stibnite several times.. it's about as rough and desolate as any place in Idaho.. the road going up there is one lane and continues past towards thunder mt... in any case If snow machines are being used they can go cross country but it's dense forest and steep ...might not be found for a long time... sad....

Last February, a friend of mine and I founded the Gadsden Air Corps to fill a gap. I won't get into the CAP, I'm very opinionated, needless to say, there is a GAP.

We contacted the Utah Sheriff's assn to see if they would like any 'help' with SAR, patrol, other things from volunteer pilots. They have been very happy to help.

We've been meeting every Wed in Draper Utah at my business. Mostly we are still getting organized. But we've been called to perform two actual missions.

The first one was for a lost 85 year old rancher (his horse threw him and made its way back to his ranch without him) who we found. We were over target within 90 minutes of receiving the call (target was 35 minute flight for the Wilga). We found the guy and directed ground guys to him. We were lucky, we were able to locate and recover him safely within 3 hours of initial call. CAP was still briefing. The UHP Helicopter was enroute. My point is, a well trained network of volunteer pilots has the potential to respond much more quickly. Fixed wing aircraft are superb platforms for aerial searching. Backcountry pilots are well equipped to manage risk over diverse terrain.

The second one was a 'test' of sorts. We were asked to drop a simulated relief package to some firefighters who were training for fire season. We put together a very nice static line chute deployment system and dropped a foam cooler with ice-cream sandwiches for them.

We're learning more and more about the gaps in service, but what's most important, our training and situational awareness makes us better pilots.

We also have found many opportunities to perform event fly-overs in our civilian aircraft (sequester). However, most pilots lack formal formation flying training - we are soon to launch formation clinics for pilots who want to be safe and professional while flying formation. We have been well received, on memorial day last year, I was able to find 4 other aircraft to do a flyover for the SOF memorial at Camp Williams. Later, I received a letter from the organizer stating that lots of comments were received about the 'civilian aircraft' flyover. Many had never seen a Wilga, Cub, Mooney, Stearman and a Aerocoup in formation before, let alone doing a flyover. Many were especially touched knowing that we, civilians, took the time to honor them. We did 5 flyovers over memorial services last summer.

I'd love the help from anyone interested in joining me in the Air Corps. We currently have 4 aircraft and 8 great operators in our Utah Wing, we've got a growing curriculum for both pilots and ground personnel (we plan on eventually offering 'controller' and weather training for LEO and other folks who will be on the ground).

In any case, if anyone is interested please find us on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/threeper65 (me)
https://www.facebook.com/GadsdenAirCorps (the air corps)

Cory 'Threeper' Robin
(801) 214-8203

Way to go, Cory. Great work!

Very cool Wilgabeast! I've been wanting to so a similar thing in Idaho but I've been concerned about the amount of time it will take to run and make successful. Financing is another concern. Maybe we should talk about setting up a GAP - Idaho Wing.

Here is the latest news I can find. The family of the missing pilot is asking anyone who can to help in the search.

http://www.nwcn.com/news/235228401.html

Several years ago a doctor(who would have guessed) to off in an RV from Dunsmuir apt just south of Mt Shasta, CA with his home made IFR departure. Dunsmuir is in the bottom of a canyon. He did not show up to his destination so the search began. Hunters found him 5 years later.

Since it a recovery mission, I say let the hunters and backpackers take it over. Time is on their side at this point. Much safer.

Tim

The family announced this morning that they have called off the search until spring...Oh how horrible for the family...I think I am going to go up there and help with the foot search in the spring if they will let me....God please bless this family.....

WilgaBeast well done my friend, I just wish you guys would have been around to find shy but If I can be of assistance let me know......We need people like you guys to do the job adequately....

I saw on one news report that some people were looking at satellite images...like was done for Fossett. Any ideas where those images are? Since they were taken shortly after the accident, it seems like some more effort at looking at them would be a good idea.

I don't blame them for trying privately, if they can. If it was close members of my family I couldn't rest anyway, so even with a low probability, I'd be looking.

I know out West is much more difficult than back here. Since I'm a hunter(at times) and somewhat versed in back country, I'd assist if I was closer. Maybe just look in one area at a time. I know the odds are long & just getting in to start would take effort. Just the recovery has got to be an important milestone, towards the healing process. I understand the healing will never be complete.

You may of seen the news, there are 4 missing in NV right now too. They drove off in their SUV to 'play in the snow', it's been days & no sign of them yet.

At least they just found those missing in NV, they slid off a road & rolled over. They will be alright.

DigitalGlobe - they do the satellite and high precision aerial imagery for google maps - and they have defense-grade imagery that is not accessible to the public. Hopefully these images are available to law enforcement and SAR organizations. Not sure if it will help - but no stone should be left unturned.

http://www.digitalglobe.com/Industries/defense%26intelligence#defense-intelligence

Is there any such thing as a large metal detector to hang from a helicopter?

58Skylane wrote:Is there any such thing as a large metal detector to hang from a helicopter?

Yes, mining companies do this routinely when exploring prospects.

Recent Example:

http://kyuk.org/state-completes-new-mag ... ning-area/

Re: One missing near Johnson Crk/Yellow Pine
Is there any such thing as a large metal detector to hang from a helicopter?

Isn't that kind of how the Navy's P-3's go looking for subs?