Osprey sees first action in search and rescue

[unhappycamper]

A CV-22 Osprey aircraft flys over the New Mexico/Colorado mountains on a training mission. The aircraft participated in its first search and rescue mission on Oct. 5.


Osprey sees first action in search and rescue
Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Oct 24, 2007 19:07:23 EDT

The Air Force’s CV-22 Osprey has been pressed into real action for the first time as part of a search-and-rescue mission.

One of the four tilt-rotor aircraft belonging to the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., was part of team of four aircraft searching for survivors of an Oct. 4 plane crash.

An Arizona-based Beechcraft King Air plane traveling to San Luis Regional Medical Center in Alamosa, Co., was reported missing Oct. 5. Civilian authorities contacted the military for help that morning, and the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base, Va., notified officials at Kirtland, the base closest to the suspected crash area.

Kirtland officials dispatched two HH-60G helicopters, a MC-130P for aerial refueling and the CV-22.

“We knew our piece of this was to get up there as quickly as we could and find the crash site,” said Capt. Scott Gwin, the aircraft commander on the CV-22. “Then our goal was to trans-load the passengers. We could have trans-loaded from anywhere and gone straight to the trauma center.”

Battling high winds and a low cloud ceiling, the three rotary aircraft searched a peak in the San Juan Mountains where radar data suggested the downed plane would be. Sensor operators on the MC-130P eventually located the crash site, and the Osprey crew went to the coordinates to visually check for survivors, of which there were none. All three passengers of the medical flight died in the crash.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/10/airforce_osprey_rescuemission_071024/



uhc comment: This piece of shit airplane has been in development for 21 fucking years, and this is the first time they've used it for SAR?

Background on the Osprey here --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=259x4307

BTW, the Osprey was recently deployed to Iraq --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=5009

[Kolesar]

1. & the Osprey made the cover of Time Magazine