Mission Report
Mission #03M2871
December 18, 2003
Missing Aircraft
Submitted by 1Lt Kim Kirschman

A mission summary written by Maj Doug Jansen:

This morning Iowa and Illinois Civil Air Patrol were both alerted to an overdue aircraft.  The Cherokee 6 

departed Palwaukee Airport near Chicago Wednesday night at 1620 hours.  The Aircraft was due at Ankeny 

at 1830 hours Wednesday. Iowa Wing assets were alerted at 0100 Thursday morning.  Lt Col Ralph 

Tomlinson, Maj Doug Jansen, and Maj Suzanne Tomlinson from CICS conducted planning and coordination 

through the night.  Weather over the route of flight prohibited an air search during the night.  Plans were made

to open the Ames Mission Base to support the Iowa search efforts.  Illinois Wing opened its base at DuPage 

Airport and was waiting for the weather to improve so they could conduct an air search.

As soon as the weather cleared an aircraft was launched out of Ankeny Airport. 1st Lt Kim Kirschman, 

Maj Chuck Lord, and 2d Lt Tony Short departed Ankeny in CAP Flight 1376 to perform a route search.   

CAP Flight 1376, staff, and ground teams searched through the morning to try to locate the Cherokee and its 

four passengers.  The Incident staff fielded multiple media interviews and coordinated with agencies across the 

region.  The aircraft was located by a farmer in his field at 1000 Thursday morning.  CAP Flight 1376 was 

re-tasked and was over the scene within a few minutes.  The Poweshiek County Sheriff's Department 

secured the scene and determined that there were no survivors. 

With the accident scene in the hands of the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Department, we wrapped up our 

operations and closed out the mission with AFRCC.  The information staff continued to field phone and 

live interviews for the rest of the day.  News outlets from Chicago to Des Moines and even a few in Arizona

contacted the Ames Mission Base to discuss the story.  Thank you to all who reported in and dedicated 

themselves to being available if the mission were to expand.  We could not conduct these missions as 

effectively without your support!

Central Iowa Composite Squadron members who participated:

Lt Col Ralph Tomlinson - Air Branch

Maj John Halbrook - Incident Commander

Maj Suzanne Tomlinson - Air Branch

Capt Nick Critelli - Information

Capt Troy Ruffin - Ground Team Leader

1st Lt Ann Colvin - Stand By

1st Lt Gary Colvin - Stand By

1st Lt Anita Elliott - Standy By

1st Lt Roger Elliott - Comm

1st Lt James McLaughlin - Standy By

Members from Iowa Who Participated in Addition to CICS

1st Lt Doug Bean - Stand By & CISM Team

Capt Leo Bertling - Standy By & Mission Pilot

Lt Col Don Cox - Mission Pilot

Maj Barb Edmondson - Safety

Maj Tim Etherington - Incident Commander (Initial)

Col Rex Glasgow - Standy By GT

1st Lt Brandon Hanson - Information

2d Lt Shannon Juhl - Stand By GT

1st Lt Kim Kirschman - Mission Pilot

Maj Chuck Lord - Observer

Capt Don Reynolds - Observer

2d Lt Tony Short - Scanner

1st Lt Bruce Tiemann - Information (CR) & GT

Additional information provided by 1Lt Kim Kirschman, CAP Flight 1376 pilot:

I received a call at approximately 0500 on the 18th and was tasked with assembling two aircrews for

the purpose of conducting air searches beginning shortly after sunrise.  At 0800 I met with Maj Chuck Lord 

and 2Lt Tony Short at the Ankeny Airport.  We briefed a mission that would begin as a route search to be

flown on a direct GPS line from the Ankeny Airport to the Palwaukee Airport, though proceeding no

further east than the Cedar Rapids Airport.  Taxiways and runways were still icy from the prior night's

freezing rain and snow, but with due care we were in the air at 0900.  Visibility was good, and the route

search was flown at 800'.  Snow cover made search conditions difficult in spite of the good visibility.

When approximately 30 miles WSW of Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Approach advised us to contact

the Flight Service Station at Fort Dodge as word had come through the missing aircraft had been

located.  That was confirmed by the Fort Dodge FSS, and we headed for Brooklyn, IA, which was only

a few miles from our position.  We visually located the crash site just SW of Brooklyn, between Interstate 80

and the town.  After circling the site to take photos, we landed at the Grinnell Airport for fuel, then

returned to Ankeny.  Aircraft time totaled 2.1 hours.

Notes of particular interest:

	Radio communication with Ames Mission Base was not possible from search altitude.  It was

	necessary to climb to approximately 4000' to communicate;

	Snow made a search for a white aircraft very difficult.  In addition, snow and ice falling after

	the time of the crash further camouflaged the downed airplane;

	Winds aloft were very strong, necessitating 30 degrees of heading correction to maintain

	the desired ground track;

	During the flight from Ankeny to the Cedar Rapids area, a decision was made to conduct

	the return flight along the north side of Interstate 80.  That choice was based on the 

	possibility the missing aircraft would have flown close to the highway if flight visibility had

	deteriorated.  That route would have taken us very close to the crash site.  It is interesting

	to speculate whether the aircraft would have been spotted in spite of the difficult search

	conditions.