MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. - Radar analysis provided by the 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron at the Western Air Defense Sector here assisted in the rescue of two people after their glider went missing in remote southern California mountains Dec. 3.
The glider instructor pilot and a student were found less than two miles from their last radar sighting, according to John Henderson of the 84th RADES. They had no major injuries, although they did suffer from spending several hours in below-freezing temperatures.
"Their sailplane had been towed to an altitude of 9,300 feet before being released in the area of Mount Baden Powell in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California," said Henderson, who provided the radar information to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base, Va.
A planned one-hour flight to an airport just 10 miles away was cut short when the glider worked itself into an area with no lift.
The pilot crashed the sailplane in 8-foot-deep scrub brush, and the pilot and passenger stayed with the aircraft through the night. A California Civil Air Patrol air crew spotted the aircraft around 7:30 the next morning. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopter made the actual rescue.
Henderson used the Western Sector's radar data to pinpoint the aircraft's last known location, speed, heading and altitude, and used that information to determine the likely crash site. He passed the data to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, which forwarded the information to the California Civil Air Patrol. The Colorado Civil Air Patrol also assisted with radar analysis.
"We're grateful to the assistance provided by the 84th RADES," said Capt. Bob Keilholtz of the Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol. "Without an active distress beacon signal - or any other hard data on the aircraft's last known position - having access to this radar data enabled us to cut response times by focusing the search on the most likely position where they could have landed."
Henderson has been assigned to the 84th RADES since 1999 and has personally been involved in saving 11 lives by finding air crash sites.
"Our goal, first and foremost, is to save lives," said Henderson, who is also a commercial pilot with an instrument rating and extensive experience with the Civil Air Patrol. "Authorities have used our data exclusively to locate more than 50 aircraft over the past few years."
The work of the 84th RADES ties in closely with the Western Air Defense Sector's mission of "Guarding America's Western Skies." The Sector is one of three that supports the North American Aerospace Defense Command in America's air defense.