EAGLE, Colorado (CNN) -- Searchers are to begin another
series of flights Friday that will be the most intensive yet
in their efforts to locate a missing A-10 Thunderbolt.
If their efforts are unsuccessful, most elements of the
search will be suspended.
Lt. Gen. Frank Campbell said at a news conference Thursday
that 10 more planes have been added to assist the Civil Air
Patrol. The search will again concentrate on a 5-mile ring
around New York Mountain, midway between Eagle and Vail,
Colorado.
"We're going to hit the (search) grids hard and bring
detection up, systematically searching outward," Campbell
said. "If, within five days, we do not find anything, we will
have searched thoroughly, and we will consult with our
superiors and suspend the search."
The jet, flown by Capt. Craig Button and carrying four
500-pound bombs, veered off April 2 from a training mission
in Arizona and was tracked by radar and visual sightings to
the vicinity of New York Mountain.
The jet is believed to have crashed, and residents have
reported hearing loud explosions and seeing heavy smoke.
Spy satellites find 'infrared event'
Campbell said Thursday that spy satellites have picked up
evidence of what may have been an explosion.
"Sensors indicate an infrared event ... at the time the
aircraft was in the (search) area," he said. He would not
comment, however, on whether it could have been the plane
crashing or the pilot dropping a bomb.
Further confusing the issue is that while there are 40
seismic sensors in the area, none of them has registered
anything of the magnitude of a bomb exploding or a plane
crashing.
"We are told a plane crash would have registered about 1.9 on
the Richter scale," Campbell said.
He said that suspending the search would not mean that the
Air Force was "throwing in the towel."
"Searches with sensors will continue," he said. "We would
suspend the search until the conditions change."
Heavy snow fell for several days after the plane is believed
to have crashed, limiting the ability of those making visual
searches. Civil Air Patrol officials have said previously
that given the deep snow, it could take months before the
plane is found.
SR-71 eliminates 14 sites, adds 2
Using an SR-71 spy plane, which has radar capable of
penetrating snow, has enabled the searchers to eliminate 14
possible crash sites and add two new ones.
Most of the 362 search flights have been flown by Civil Air
Patrol planes making low-altitude visual searches. The search
has logged 600 hours of flight time and has included flights
by some of the Air Force's most sophisticated spy planes. The
cost of the search is estimated at $700,000.
Col. Denver Pletcher of the Colorado Civil Air Patrol
admitted that it is possible that the plane could be
somewhere else entirely. "But we do believe we are in the
right place and doing the right thing," he said.
Responding to a similar question in Washington, Joint Chiefs
Chairman Gen. John Shalikashvili said, "We have not
overlooked the idea that the plane might have landed
somewhere. ... We have looked at a number of places where
that could have happened, so far without any results."
Asked what he would say to Button's parents, if the search is
called off without finding the pilot, Campbell replied, "What
we've been saying to them all along. That we're most
concerned for the welfare of their son, and we are searching
to the utmost of our ability."