SAR stories

[Hair Warrior]

Pilot is rescued after surviving 36 DAYS in the Amazon jungle

Antonio Sena, 36, lost four stone during his ordeal after search and rescue teams gave up the search for him in Brazil after they were unable to find the wreckage.

www.dailymail.co.uk

This one is just survival (no ERE) but kind of crazy that searchers couldn’t find the plane in a clearing after a week. The guy had to walk out on foot.

Also, don’t planes have GPS/ADS-B which - along with ATC - would point searchers to a good grid of where the plane lost contact? I guess that’s all the more reason to keep a PLB in your pocket/backpack whenever you fly.

 

[Swanee]

And here I thought you were going to share about your time in Prona.

 

[Hair Warrior]

And here I thought you were going to share about your time in Prona.

Bring em! Those stories would be welcome, too.

 

[MGoBrew11]

Bring em! Those stories would be welcome, too.

Maybe by you, but not the Navy.

 

[ChuckMK23]

Pilot is rescued after surviving 36 DAYS in the Amazon jungle

Antonio Sena, 36, lost four stone during his ordeal after search and rescue teams gave up the search for him in Brazil after they were unable to find the wreckage.

www.dailymail.co.uk

This one is just survival (no ERE) but kind of crazy that searchers couldn’t find the plane in a clearing after a week. The guy had to walk out on foot.

Also, don’t planes have GPS/ADS-B which - along with ATC - would point searchers to a good grid of where the plane lost contact? I guess that’s all the more reason to keep a PLB in your pocket/backpack whenever you fly.

Having observed a recent real world SAR in the marshlands of the UP Michigan, and how difficult it was to locate the deceased pilot post ejection, I have a new appreciation for how difficult SAR can be even with ADS-B track data - in this case dense forest/marshland foiled the recovery effort for days and days.

 

[Pags]

Bring em! Those stories would be welcome, too.

Not appropriate for this forum.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Having observed a recent real world SAR in the marshlands of the UP Michigan, and how difficult it was to locate the deceased pilot post ejection, I have a new appreciation for how difficult SAR can be even with ADS-B track data - in this case dense forest/marshland foiled the recovery effort for days and days.

That’s sad. AFAIK they still haven’t found Felix Moncla or Robert Wilson, who went missing over that area. That part of the world is wilderness. Actually spent a good amount of time on multi-day backpacking trips in the mountains of UP, when I was a kid. Lots of dense forest, marshy areas, and rocky slopes.

 

[Griz882]

...Felix Moncla or Robert Wilson...

I thought they were in Canada drinking Molson's with the RCAF C-47 crew.

 

[Pags]

Having observed a recent real world SAR in the marshlands of the UP Michigan, and how difficult it was to locate the deceased pilot post ejection, I have a new appreciation for how difficult SAR can be even with ADS-B track data - in this case dense forest/marshland foiled the recovery effort for days and days.

A small airplane going into thick canopy can just disappear. I don't have a SAR TACAID in front of me but if I recall heavy forest really degrades the probability of detection (or required closer sweeps). Also you'll likely lose ADS-B signal before you hit the ground due to LOS/radar horizon so the plane may still glide/fall for a decent distance before hitting the ground adding uncertainty to the actual end position of the a/c from the last known position.

 

[taxi1]

Sounds like they knew the general area he went down in. He probably thought he was going to be snatched up Any Day Now.

Lesson learned: plan for the long haul, even in short haul situations.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Lesson learned: plan for the long haul, even in short haul situations.

And, buy a PLB and put it in your pocket whenever flying your small private plane (or really any situation where you’re recreating outdoors solo or in small groups: hiking, sea kayaking, mountain biking, etc).

 

[Griz882]

I carry an ACR ResQlink 400 in my flying kit. Most of the places I fly make it unnecessary (unless I crash in @Pags backyard) but it takes a few bucks off my insurance.

 

[Hair Warrior]

I carry an ACR ResQlink 400 in my flying kit. Most of the places I fly make it unnecessary (unless I crash in @Pags backyard) but it takes a few bucks off my insurance.

Pretty sure you're gonna use that SERE training if you go down in Pagistan. You might survive the first few DIPAs but at some point you'll need an exit strategy.

 

[Pags]

And, buy a PLB and put it in your pocket whenever flying your small private plane (or really any situation where you’re recreating outdoors solo or in small groups: hiking, sea kayaking, mountain biking, etc).

Doing anything outdoors solo makes the risk go up significantly.

 

[Pags]

I carry an ACR ResQlink 400 in my flying kit. Most of the places I fly make it unnecessary (unless I crash in @Pags backyard) but it takes a few bucks off my insurance.

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