84th RADES credited with “save” for assistance during rescue

  • Published
  • By Capt. Nathan Broshear
  • 505th CCW Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  The 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron, based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, has been credited with another save as a result of their technical assistance provided on April 9 in response to a civilian aircraft crash in New Mexico.

"As a direct result of radar track information provided by 84th RADES, search and rescue teams were able to locate the missing aircraft with the pilot still alive," said Staff Sgt. Paul Buzbee, watch supervisor at the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall AFB, Fla.

A small Sirrius SR-22 aircraft reported engine trouble to the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center and was going down somewhere in the desert southwest.

Search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched, but before they could begin their efforts, crews needed precise information on the aircraft's last known location. Within 15 minutes of the call to Federal Aviation Administration officials in Albuquerque, Air Force members leapt into action.

As usual, 84th RADES, Operating Location Alpha-Delta personnel located at the Western Air Defense Sector at McChord AFB, Wash., were monitoring the Domestic Information Network. This high-level homeland security network reports information of national importance to command chains and key decision makers around the country and the Pentagon.

After hearing an aircraft was going down, John Henderson, operating location chief for 84th RADES-OLAD, began a radar analysis of the aircraft's route of flight. The data was then forwarded to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center in Florida.

Through the National Track Analysis Program, civilian authorities provide 84th RADES personnel route of flight information, times, and other data for analysis. 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.

Thirty-five minutes after the initial call, an Air Force C-130 was en route to the crash area with the radar track data provided by the 84th RADES. When rescue teams arrived, they found the pilot and passenger virtually unscathed. The SR-22 aircraft is equipped with an emergency parachute system to assist in emergency landings.

"This time the (emergency parachute) system seems to have worked as advertised," said Mr. Henderson. "It's good to know that our work led to a happy ending in what might have been a tragedy."

84th RADES-OLAD averages one radar analysis per week for emergency officials in the western United States, although few result in survivors.

"We're able to cut down the search area from hundreds of square miles to a much smaller area...sometimes within just a few feet," Mr. Henderson said. During another search effort, 84th RADES staff targeted a crash site within 65 feet.

By pinpointing an aircraft's last known location, 84th RADES staff are not only able to save lives, they're saving state and federal officials untold amounts of money, Mr. Henderson said.

"The time, money and effort we're able to cut out of the rescue process are invaluable," Mr. Henderson said. "Instead of trying to find a small aircraft in a vast wilderness, authorities can concentrate their attention on a small area."

"If a pilot or crew is injured, the chance of survival goes down dramatically as time increases," Mr. Henderson said. "It's paramount to get to these sites quickly."

"This is another example of the valuable service 84th RADES personnel provide for military and civilian authorities -- we consider saving American lives the most important part of our mission, " said Lt. Col. Bart Schuck, 84th RADES commander.