Missing Plane, as paged

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Warbirdhunter

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If the CAP flew F-16's then every wanna-be pilot out there would join in hopes of being able to fly one some day.
Why use F-16's to search? Same reason we see them fly over sporting events. Real world practical exercises. Doesn't have to be a dignitary or VIP to get extra help. Maybe they offered their help due to the time of year. If there were survivors, they would have a much shorter window to be rescued due to the weather and conditions, so why not get all the help you can?

Very good point Sir, thank you for pointing that out. I never considered that side of things.
 

GrayJeep

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I'm thinking that mountaintop wind condx were such that the CAP's C-182 fleet couldn't fly.

F16s could hear and localize an ELT quickly as well as cope with the mountain wave and shear condx as long as they didn't go too low.

A10 would be better but they aren't in the area.

(I saw an A10 following the 4WD Engineer Pass road one time. He was terrain following climbing up the mountainside and rolled inverted to pull over Engineer Pass. About 0730 in the morning. I was sitting on Engineer Mtn at the time. Awesome! I want one!!!!)
 

jimmnn

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CAP 182's were flying the F16's were to assist resources already and it was also stated there missions could be used as training since it was a NG weekend.

Jim<
 

GrayJeep

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CAP 182's were flying the F16's were to assist resources already and it was also stated there missions could be used as training since it was a NG weekend.

Jim<

Quite the expenditure of resources. I could see it as better training if the F16s were marking the target with smoke rockets :-> Beats boring holes in the sky.
 

Warbirdhunter

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I have to side with Ron in this one, I think using f-16's might of been a little excessive. A long time ago Mod Erik said they Air National Guard had a shortage of fuel, and there for had to limit the training time. Also the fly overs. I can't say I remember how much an hour it costs to have an f-16 up and running, but 4 I would think would cost a small bank. But again I could be wrong, in witch case I like my tin foil hat in a size 8. :lol:
 

abqscan

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I think the F-16's were due to do a fly-by @ the Broncos game, so why not get more out of our tax dollars by helping the CAP than just having them fly race tracks in the sky burning fuel. Plus the F-16's have some Gucci toys that makes the CAP drool...
 

jimmnn

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SAN LUIS (AP) - The bodies of a Canadian couple killed in a plane crash in the southern Colorado mountains won't be recovered until spring because of treacherous weather and the threat of avalanche.

Costilla County officials say the bodies of 67-year-old Gerrit Maureau of Calgary and his 65-year-old wife, Sheila Malm, will be recovered when it is safe to send a recovery team to Vermejo Peak. That's where the couple is presumed dead in a plane crash on Dec. 20 while heading to Santa Fe, N.M., to spend the holiday.

Officials at first said recovery would begin this weekend. But a Christmas snowstorm, and a review showing the wreckage is located more than 1,000 feet higher on the peak than at first believed, makes it unsafe to try to recover the couple, said Costilla County Sgt. James Chavez.

Chavez said he talked to Malm's borther about the recovery problem last week and that relatives have been understanding about the need to delay.

"The family has been very understanding," Chavez said. "At this point we're at the mercy of Mother Nature."

The couple's 58 Beechcraft Baron plane went missing on Dec. 20 at Vermejo Peak, near the New Mexico border. At first, Chavez said, recovery officials thought the wreckage was at an elevation of about 11,500 feet, but a subsequent air search revealed the wreckage is at about 13,000 feet.

At that elevation, the recovery becomes very dangerous, especially with several feet of snow, Chavez said. The peak has gotten more than a foot of fresh snow just in the last week.

The threat of deadly avalanches in the Colorado mountains is real. On Saturday, two Colorado snowmobilers died in an avalanche near Rocky Mountain National Park, about 300 miles north of the plane crash.

"To put searchers at that kind of risk is not something we're going to do," Chavez said.

Maureau was president of MaurOil International Inc., a consulting firm for energy companies, and a former president and chief executive of the Canadian Petroleum Institute.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Chavez said it would be at least March, and probably later, before the bodies of Maureau and Malm could be recovered, but that officials would review weather conditions this winter in case the situation changes.
 
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