Civil Air Patrol lost three of its members from Wyoming last week during a search and rescue mission when the CAP Cessna 182 they were flying crashed in the Bighorn Mountains. Killed were: James Henderson, 59, of Cowley, Wyo.; Patricia Larson, 52, of Sheridan, Wyo.; and James Meyer, 53, also of Sheridan. An Aug. 22 CAP release notes that the accident took place Aug. 20 during a search effort for a 16-year-old fishing in the area and reported missing. A Forest Service-contracted aircraft working forest fires in the area spotted the aircraft. CAP is the Air Force Auxiliary that conducts 95 percent of inland SAR missions directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, among other missions, such as disaster relief and homeland security missions.
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…