SAR Assets Looking for Malaysia Air Flight 370

Tahoma rescues man off Key West

KITTERY, Maine - The crew from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tahoma rescued a 70-year-old man from a disabled sailing vessel approximately 190 miles west of Key West, Fla., Wednesday. Complete story at http://goo.gl/on3tL

Had the Tahoma on the COTHEN network Wednesday using their ALE address "CBE."

Nice to see what they were up to in the headlines

U.S. 6th Fleet Aids in SAR Efforts off of Lebanon

By Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa/Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs

NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet is coordinating assets in support of search and rescue efforts Jan. 25 at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 409 at the request of the government of Lebanon and U.S. Department of State.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET409 crashed shortly after take-off from Beirut International Airport en route to Ethiopia. Within hours, a U.S. P-3 Orion aircraft and the USS Ramage (DDG 61) arrived on scene and were assisting the on-scene commander from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

The P-3 Orion aircraft has departed the scene at this time.

Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet will continue to work with all participating parties and affected governments as the situation progresses.

Both the P-3 and Ramage were conducting regularly scheduled missions in the Eastern Mediterranean at the time of the crash.

USS Blue Ridge Conducts SAR Exercise

Members of the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) search and rescue boat crew look on as a search and rescue swimmer is lifted from the ocean during a training exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew D. Jordan/Released)

European Command coordinates difficult rescue at sea

By Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dana M. Clark

U.S. European Command Headquarters and U.S. Air Forces-Europe joined forces to conduct a long distance rescue mission off the coast of Ireland, Dec. 10, 2008.

The Rescue Coordination Center in the United Kingdom contacted the U.S. military requesting assistance to evacuate a severely injured crewman onboard the M/V Anna Rickmers, a cargo ship operating 460 miles offshore.

The U.S. military dispatched two HH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from Lakenheath, U.K., along with an MC-130 Hercules airplane and KC-135 refueling aircraft, both from Mildenhall, U.K., to conduct the rescue.

USEUCOM's Joint Operations Center Team Chief, Navy Capt. Gregory F. Stephens, said, "The success of this operation is attributed to the capability of the European Command staff, Air Forces Europe and our component commands."

The injured man was taken to the Shannon International Airport and then transported to the hospital where he is reported to be in stable condition.

"There is no doubt about the resolve of any person involved in this time-critical operation, and all can take pride in the outcome of this complex display of communications, planning, and airmanship."

Coast Guard Search

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a diver that went missing in the Potomac River.

USAF units assist in search for adventurer Steve Fossett

by Capt. Nathan D. Broshear, 505th Command and Control Wing Public Affairs

Tech. Sgt. Anthony Church analyzes raw radar data recorded over the Sierra Nevada to assist authorities in the rescue efforts for adventurer Steve Fossett Sept. 5. Sergeant Church is a 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron radar data analyst. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Clay Murray)

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AFPN) -- Air Force members from around the United States scrambled early Sept. 4 to assist in locating billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett in the border area around Southwest Nevada and California.

The 1st Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Henry C. "Hank" Morrow, the Inland Search and Rescue Coordinator, is responsible for coordinating all federal inland commercial, military, and interstate aeronautical search and rescue in the contiguous U.S. using the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center located in the 601st Combined Air and Space operations Center at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

"This search and rescue mission is a total team effort, as is every other SAR mission that goes on within the lower 48 states on a daily basis," said Lt. Col. Jed Hudson, the AFRCC commander. "Yesterday we had the Nevada Civil Air Patrol operating 12 light aircraft and California Civil Air Patrol flying 12 light aircraft under an AFRCC federal mission number."

On Sept. 4, the California Reno-Stead Aviation Support Facility provided an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter to search teams while the California Air National Guard provided two C-130 Hercules aircraft operating under state mission numbers.

"Today we have Nevada Civil Air Patrol flying three light aircraft, California Civil Air Patrol flying approximately 12 light aircraft, Utah Civil Air Patrol flying one GA-8 Airvan light aircraft under federal mission numbers and the California Reno-Stead Aviation Support Facility providing one OH-58 Kiowa helicopter," said Colonel Hudson. "In addition, the Nevada Air National Guard provided one C-130 Hercules and one HH-60 Pave Hawk operating under state mission numbers."

"Military assistance is ongoing," said John Henderson, the 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron Operating Location chief at the Western Air Defense Sector at McChord AFB, Wash. "Our unit is sifting through dozens of 'tracks of interest' to help rescue workers narrow down possible crash locations."

The morning of Sept. 5, technicians at the 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron had narrowed the number of possible radar tracks likely belonging to Fossett's aircraft from the dozens of aircraft flying in the Sierra Nevada at the time to approximately 15.

The Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the Air Force which often assists in locating downed civilian aircraft, is working with other agencies to provide manpower, search aircraft and expertise in aircraft mishap rescues. Guy Loughridge, a lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol and expert in analyzing radar data, also sorted through aircraft tracks with 84th RADES personnel.

"We could not have gotten such fidelity without the help of the Civil Air Patrol," said Mr. Henderson.

"The challenge for our techs is that aircraft operating under visual flight rules are not required to 'squawk' a discrete transponder code in the same way a civilian airliner would," said Maj. Dean Williamson, operations officer at the 84th RADES. "Our technicians must then analyze raw radar data from numerous sites to deduce which pieces of data will be useful for rescuers."

Staffs at Western Air Defense Sector are continuing to refine the radar data provided to the AFRCC using specialized in-house developed software tools and even hand-sorting through tens of thousands of raw radar reports. These updated "tracks" are immediately sent across the country to the AFRCC to help narrow down where rescuers would likely locate a crash site.

"The remote location and mountainous terrain, where radar coverage is minimal, complicates the search efforts -- we're able to collect only intermittent radar data from this region -- it's an intensive effort to recreate possible flight paths for every aircraft operating in the vicinity," said Major Williamson.

The little-known Air Force unit, based here, has provided data to assist in more than 32 rescue efforts in 2007 and has been credited with helping to save the lives of two downed pilots so far this year. The primary mission of the 84th RADES is to evaluate and optimize military and government radar stations in the United States and in military operating locations around the world.

While performing their primary mission, radar data from monitored sites is continuously recorded by the 84th RADES in massive servers located at each of the three air defense sector facilities in Washington, New York, Alaska and at Hill AFB.

"It's an added benefit that the radar data collected by our team has other uses in addition to our optimization, upgrade and evaluation role," said Major Williamson. "The 84th RADES provides a unique service to our civilian partners such as the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board -- our unique ability to record, play back and analyze raw radar data enables us to provide rescue workers with the last known position of an aircraft so work can be focused on the most likely crash locations."

Through the National Track Analysis Program, civilian authorities provide 84th RADES personnel routes of flight information, times, and other data for analysis during rescue operations. Staff members then comb through radar tracks gathered from across the country to narrow the search area as much as possible. Maps and coordinates are provided to rescue teams in easy-to-read formats such as common aircrew maps or in civilian programs such as Google Earth.

"It's a team of military active duty, Guard and Reserve members, Civil Air Patrol, FAA, local authorities and concerned citizens working together on this rescue ... collectively we're doing everything possible to locate Mr. Fossett quickly and safely," said Major Williamson.