Mission Report
Mission #02M2463
October 13, 2002
Sheldon (Iowa) Area ELT
Submitted by 1Lt Kim Kirschman

In the early-morning hours of October 13, 2002, an Iowa Wing air crew and ground team were activated for an ELT mission in north-western Iowa.  1Lt. Kim Kirschman,  LTC Ralph Tomlinson,  and CPT Suzanne Tomlinson were the aircrew in CF1376, flying out of the Ames airport.  Captain Doug Jansen and other Ames CAP members constituted the ground team in IACAP 611.

In accordance with information received from AFRCC and the Iowa Wing Incident Commander, CF 1376 departed the Ames airport at approximately 12:30 a.m. and headed for a search area centered a few miles southeast of Sheldon.  Ceilings and visibility were unlimited, but strong northwesterly winds slowed groundspeed to 75 knots, and as the night was moonless ground features were invisible.  When about 20 miles southeast of Sheldon an ELT signal on 121.5 was confirmed aurally, and shortly thereafter the DF needle began to indicate a useable display.  Using standard ELT search procedures, the crew of 1376 was soon able to inform IACAP 611 that the transmitting ELT was most probably located on the Primghar airport.  Because of the near-total darkness, a short runway at Primghar, and the fact that most of the runway lights at Primghar were out of service, 1376 proceeded to the Paullina airport to land and wait for the arrival of the ground team, which was still enroute from Ames.  The ground team arrived at the Paullina airport at approximately 3 a.m.  Following a coordination briefing between the air and ground crews, the ground crew departed for Primghar.  After a short wait, the air crew also proceeded to Primghar and orbited the area briefly while waiting for the ground crew to confirm the location of the ELT.  When that confirmation was received, 1376 returned to Ames.  Hangar doors were closed at about 5 a.m.

Locating the ELT from the air was almost a textbook event.  DF indications were quite accurate, with few conflicting readings.  The strong winds aloft coupled with the darkness did slightly complicate search pattern flying, and the inability to see ground features imposed an extra requirement for situational awareness when descending to a lower altitude to better pinpoint the ELT's location.  Also due to the darkness, the subsequent approach and landing in Paullina were made particularly interesting by runway lighting that appeared to mark a runway of typical dimensions but which was in fact only 25 feet wide, with wide expanses of grass on either side.  After landing, CPT Tomlinson remarked that she was going to question landing with the left wheel almost in the grass, but upon looking out the right side of the aircraft noted the right wheel was also almost in the grass.  Finally, with outside temperatures below freezing, the unheated line shack at the Paullina airport was not a comfortable place for the air crew to wait for the ground team.