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Rough terrain hinders search for Air Force plane
April 14, 1997
Web posted at: 7:51 p.m. EDT (2351 GMT)
EAGLE, Colorado (CNN) -- A ground crew came up empty handed Monday in the search for clues to the disappearance of U.S. Air Force Capt. Craig Button and his A-10 Thunderbolt.
Search crews in the air and on the ground were focusing on five sites in the New York Mountain area but only one ground crew was able to search with metal detectors, and they came up with negative results, officials said.
The plane vanished from radar during a routine training mission 12 days ago. It's believed the attack aircraft -- nicknamed the "Warthog" -- either crashed or landed in a mountainous area about 15 miles southwest of Vail.
One of the "active" sites was identified overnight, Lt. Gen. Frank Campbell said Monday.
Sheer cliffs and dangerous conditions are limiting search efforts. Some areas may not be accessible for a ground search "until the snow melts" because of the dangerous terrain and threat of avalanche, Campbell said. The avalanche threat increases with the temperature, which is rising in the search area.
Six fixed-wing and six rotary-wing aircraft were among those being used in the search Monday. An SR-71 airplane out of Edwards Air Force Base is collecting radar information in place of a U-2 reconnaissance plane that has had a radar malfunction.
Campbell said the SR-71 has the same capabilities and was in the region anyway on training sorties. As of this morning, 290 sorties have been flown over a total of 560 hours.
When asked what he expected to find during the search flights, Col. Denver Pletcher said, "you're basically not looking for an airplane. You're looking for a junk yard."
Related stories:
- Powerful SR-71 spy plane joins search for pilot - April 14, 1997
- Ground search turns up no signs of missing Air Force jet - April 13, 1997
- Family, friends baffled by pilot's disappearance - April 13, 1997
- Spy planes search for Air Force pilot - April 12, 1997
- Search expands for Air Force pilot, jet - April 6, 1997
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window- U.S. Air Force - A-10 Fact Sheet
- A-10 Warthog Homepage - Major Ed Walker
- Missing A-10 Press Releases - from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
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