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AFRCC coordinates SAR for downed N.M. helicopter

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Jared Scott
  • 601 AOC PA
Controllers from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center here helped local and state agencies search for a missing helicopter in the mountains near Santa Fe, N.M., late Tuesday night.

The New Mexico State Police contacted AFRCC to ask for federal assistance in finding the helicopter and its three occupants. The helicopter had just picked up a lost hiker when it was reported missing.

The AFRCC responded by coordinating New Mexico Civil Air Patrol aircraft and ground search teams, along with an MC-130 aircraft from the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.

Additionally, AFRCC controllers focused searcher's efforts by narrowing the search area. They first used location data transmitted by the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter. Working with the Federal Aviation Administration, AFRCC controllers used radar data to track the aircraft's last known flight path. This information was provided to the incident commander in New Mexico, who then successfully directed the search teams to the missing aircraft.

One survivor, who had hiked away from the crash site, was located by one of the ground search teams. He was then picked up by a New Mexico National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and transported to a local hospital.

Searchers spotted the aircraft mishap site Thursday morning on a steep, snowy and muddy mountain side more than12,000 feet in altitude.

State police confirmed the pilot and one passenger were killed in the crash.

As the United States' inland search and rescue coordinator, the AFRCC serves as the single agency responsible for coordinating federal SAR activities in the 48 contiguous United States.

The AFRCC, a unit under Air Forces Northern, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The center directly ties in to the FAA's alerting system and the U.S. Mission Control Center. In addition to Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking information, the AFRCC computer system contains resource files that list federal and state organizations which can conduct or assist in SAR efforts throughout North America.