thedrifter
01-11-06, 12:22 PM
January 11, 2006
Teams search for missing T-39
Associated Press
ELLIJAY, Ga. — The Civil Air Patrol awaited clear skies Wednesday to begin its search in north-central Georgia for a missing Navy aircraft carrying four aviators that failed to make its scheduled arrival at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
“We’ve got five air crews standing by ready to go,” Capt. Paige Joyner, the CAP’s director of public affairs, said. “There are ground teams searching the area now.”
Capt. Gary Arasin, public affairs officer of the 347th Rescue Wing at Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, said one of its planes ran the route the Navy plane had flown on Tuesday, but found nothing.
“The CAP is out today,” he said. “Whether we get tasked or not will depend on whether they find anything today.”
Searchers are looking in an area that includes Carters Lake. Murray County Sheriff Howard Ensley told WSB Radio in Atlanta that search efforts are being hampered by rugged terrain and the rainy weather. Primitive camping is offered in the area around the lake. Ensley says deputies are trying to contact people in the area to see whether they have seen or heard anything that might lead authorities to the plane.
Clint Waldrip with Gilmer County Sheriff’s communications said Wednesday morning that military and state personnel were “looking for a plane at this time. Department of Natural Resources and the Army are looking for a plane in the area. Other than that, I don’t have any details.” Georgia DNR officials, however, said they are not involved in the search.
The Navy T-39 Sabreliner was scheduled to arrive in Pensacola around 3 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. j.g. Sean Robertson, Navy South Region public affairs officer.
A Navy instructor, a Navy student, an Air Force student and a civilian contract pilot were aboard the Sabreliner, Robertson said. Their identities have not been released.
The aircraft was assigned to Training Squadron 86. It took off for a navigation training mission around 11 a.m. from Chattanooga, Tenn. The last radio contact came at 11:20 a.m. when the pilot contacted the national center, Robertson said.
“All we know is the aircraft made contact, and we haven’t heard anything since,” he said.
Navy officials declined to disclose the aircraft’s route, whether it carried distress or locator beacons and where authorities were searching.
The Coast Guard station in Mobile, Ala., which conducts searches for aircraft reported missing over the Gulf of Mexico, was not asked Tuesday to join the search, said Steve Lewallen, a civilian who works at the Coast Guard operations in Mobile.
Two Sabreliners collided in midair about 40 miles south of Pensacola Beach in May 2002, killing seven aviators.
The jets are used for training navigators and other non-pilot air crew officers for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and foreign military services.
Ellie
Teams search for missing T-39
Associated Press
ELLIJAY, Ga. — The Civil Air Patrol awaited clear skies Wednesday to begin its search in north-central Georgia for a missing Navy aircraft carrying four aviators that failed to make its scheduled arrival at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
“We’ve got five air crews standing by ready to go,” Capt. Paige Joyner, the CAP’s director of public affairs, said. “There are ground teams searching the area now.”
Capt. Gary Arasin, public affairs officer of the 347th Rescue Wing at Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, said one of its planes ran the route the Navy plane had flown on Tuesday, but found nothing.
“The CAP is out today,” he said. “Whether we get tasked or not will depend on whether they find anything today.”
Searchers are looking in an area that includes Carters Lake. Murray County Sheriff Howard Ensley told WSB Radio in Atlanta that search efforts are being hampered by rugged terrain and the rainy weather. Primitive camping is offered in the area around the lake. Ensley says deputies are trying to contact people in the area to see whether they have seen or heard anything that might lead authorities to the plane.
Clint Waldrip with Gilmer County Sheriff’s communications said Wednesday morning that military and state personnel were “looking for a plane at this time. Department of Natural Resources and the Army are looking for a plane in the area. Other than that, I don’t have any details.” Georgia DNR officials, however, said they are not involved in the search.
The Navy T-39 Sabreliner was scheduled to arrive in Pensacola around 3 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. j.g. Sean Robertson, Navy South Region public affairs officer.
A Navy instructor, a Navy student, an Air Force student and a civilian contract pilot were aboard the Sabreliner, Robertson said. Their identities have not been released.
The aircraft was assigned to Training Squadron 86. It took off for a navigation training mission around 11 a.m. from Chattanooga, Tenn. The last radio contact came at 11:20 a.m. when the pilot contacted the national center, Robertson said.
“All we know is the aircraft made contact, and we haven’t heard anything since,” he said.
Navy officials declined to disclose the aircraft’s route, whether it carried distress or locator beacons and where authorities were searching.
The Coast Guard station in Mobile, Ala., which conducts searches for aircraft reported missing over the Gulf of Mexico, was not asked Tuesday to join the search, said Steve Lewallen, a civilian who works at the Coast Guard operations in Mobile.
Two Sabreliners collided in midair about 40 miles south of Pensacola Beach in May 2002, killing seven aviators.
The jets are used for training navigators and other non-pilot air crew officers for the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and foreign military services.
Ellie