LifeofReiley

LifeofReiley

Well Known Member
Off of the SoCal Group today a post came through today stating an ALNOT was issued and active for N650RV, data base shows Joseph Radford as owner. In the light of helping out another RV'er, anybody know Joseph and where he is actually based? Sure would be comforting to know he's okay out there somewhere. :)
 
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National Park Service press release

Search In Progress For Missing Aircraft And Pilot

By Shannan Marcak, Public Affairs Officer
March 17, 2011



On Sunday, March 13th, Grand Canyon Airport received a report from a general aviation pilot of an activated emergency locator transmitter (also known as an ELT). The airport immediately notified the NPS because the ELT had been detected approximately 30 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village in the vicinity of Fossil Corridor within Grand Canyon National Park. The park?s helicopter flew the area in the vicinity of the reported ELT activation, but did not find any signs of a downed plane nor did they detect the beacon. Because no corresponding report of a missing plane could be found, the search was called off at that point. On Monday, the Coconino County Sheriff?s Office contacted the park about a missing person ? 47-year-old Joseph Radford of Glendale, Arizona. In the course of their investigation, the sheriff?s office had determined that Radford owned a red, RV-6 homebuilt, experimental aircraft, which was also missing. They also determined that Radford?s plane was seen at Grand Canyon Airport shortly after 8:30 a.m. the previous Friday. Based on radar tracking information from Friday, the crew of the park helicopter concentrated their search efforts in the Scorpion Ridge area, located in the vicinity of the Dragon Corridor, on Monday. On Tuesday, the park?s helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft both flew search patterns in the Fossil Corridor and Scorpion Ridge areas, but with no success. Meanwhile, the sheriff?s office continued its investigations and began contacting backpackers known to have been to these areas to see if anyone had seen or heard the plane on Friday. Investigations and aerial searches continued yesterday. The focus was on Bedrock and Galloway Canyons in the Fossil Corridor area. Radford is described as a 47-year-old white male, with blue eyes, graying hair and a receding hairline. He is 5?11? tall and weighs approximately 190 pounds. His plane is described as an RV6 Kit Built cherry red airplane with tail number N650RV. Anyone who may have seen Radford or his plane on Friday morning is asked to contact the park at 928-638-7805. The latest estimate of the total search area is 600 square miles with the National Park Service leading joint search operations with the Coconino County Sheriff?s Office.
 
This is what the aircraft looks like.

4179332797_7f0a307c39.jpg
 
Subject lines matter. I thought someone was trying to locate a person for personal reasons. I had no idea that he was missing...presumably during a flight.

Edit: What caught my attention was the related post: "Missing RV-6"

Unfortunately I have no way to help.
 
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Strong ELT received

ELT was received approximatly 20 miles NE of Grand Canyon Airport over last weekend. This is in the Zuni VFR corridor area where the search is concentrating on.
 
AZtailwind said:
ELT was received approximatly 20 miles NE of Grand Canyon Airport over last weekend. This is in the Zuni VFR corridor area where the search is concentrating on.
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I don't know which is accurate but the NPS release quoted by Louise, above, says the ELT was northwest of Grand Canyon Village which is near the airport.
 
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I hope that he, and that pretty airplane, are okay, but it doesn't sound too promising if someone was reporting an ELT...
 
Today's NPS press release

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Search Continues For Missing Aircraft And Pilot

The park is continuing to search approximately 600 square miles of rugged backcountry for a possible downed plane. The red, RV-6 homebuilt experimental aircraft and its pilot ? 47-year-old Joseph Radford of Glendale, Arizona ? were last seen on Friday, March 11th, and an ELT signal was detected two days later approximately 30 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village in the vicinity of Fossil Corridor. A search has been underway since then. The NPS has used both a fixed-wing airplane and helicopter in search efforts over the last several days, but no signs of either Radford or the plane have been found. The National Park Service is leading joint search operations, which are being conducted with the Coconino County Sheriff?s Office. Both agencies are grateful to the Civil Air Patrol for its invaluable assistance with investigations, including radar and ELT analyses.
Contact Information
Name: Maureen Oltrogge and Shannan Marcak, Public Affairs Officers
 
It may help other RV folks, who are close-knit with even transient RV pilots, if we knew his flight plan. Was he doing a dog rescue? Where to?
 
Do you have to belong to CAP

to help look for a downed aircraft? I have always wondered if the average pilot can help in any way. Of course I am not anywhere close, so just a question to all of you more experienced pilots. Thanks.
 
Wayne Gillispie said:
to help look for a downed aircraft? I have always wondered if the average pilot can help in any way. Of course I am not anywhere close, so just a question to all of you more experienced pilots. Thanks.
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Having run a fairly large air search operation in the past (which included a lot of CAP support), i can say that despite the best of intentions, it really does not help to have an uncoordinated aircraft flying around in the search area. remember that search aircraft personnel are looking very hard at the ground, and while the pilot is looking for traffic, he is likely going to be the only one aboard doing so. We had several instances of aircraft flying straight through a grid search area and disrupting operations (we elected not to try and put up a TFR over the entire East Texas region that would have lasted a month!).

The best thing you can do if you want to help is to join a search organization BEFORE you are needed so that you can train and operate in a coordinated manner.

Paul
 
Special flight area

In addition to Paul's input, this search is particularly problematic since the Fossil Corridor is part of a Special Flight Rules Area(http://grandcanyonairspace.iat.gov/index1.html). (The only National Park with such special consideration.) General Aviation aircraft must stay above 10,500' msl. That would make effective searching by an independent aircraft pretty much impossible.
 
Wayne Gillispie said:
to help look for a downed aircraft? I have always wondered if the average pilot can help in any way.
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I've spoken with both the CAP and Coast Guard Auxillary about volunteering as a SAR pilot. I was told by both organizations that "experimental" aircraft are not permitted.
 
You not your aircraft

DakotaHawk said:
I've spoken with both the CAP and Coast Guard Auxillary about volunteering as a SAR pilot. I was told by both organizations that "experimental" aircraft are not permitted.
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I'm an inactive Captain in CAP with almost 10 years of service. Although your aircraft can't be used on CAP missions, there's almost always a shortage of qualified aircrews. You can join, train, and then qualify in any of the organization's USAF-funded equipment, most commonly late-model Cessna 182's with G1000-based panels. There're also plenty of ground-based operations where your service would be appreciated. Of course, you can fly your own aircraft to a mission location, but you can't participate in the mission (and won't be covered by CAP's insurance or other funding) until you assume your duties in CAP's equipment.

--Stephen
 
Is there anyway that other pilots can gain access to the available info (radar, destination, etc) and continue the search?

I assume that he had a family and they are left in an unacceptable position not knowing what really happened. There is no closure.
 
Search Cancelled

rv7boy said:
It's hard to believe they haven't found him yet.
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Search officially cancelled yesterday. Notices in all park locations in the vicinity for hikers, hunters and campers to BOLO.

This terrain is extremely hostile and does not lend itself to finding a plane. Especially if had a speed impact.

Sad but reality.
 
Reading this thread gives me relief that I took the time and effort to put an APRS in my airplane.
 
RV7Guy said:
...This terrain is extremely hostile and does not lend itself to finding a plane. Especially if had a speed impact.

Sad but reality.
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Yes, I should remember that it took a long time to find Steve Fosset. Us "Easterners" have a difficult time comprehending how vast and unforgiving the West is. I still hope they find him though, especially for his family's grieving and closure.
 
MISSING RV6 GRAND CANYON

Hello:

My name is Mike McComb and I am new to this forum. I am a commercial air tour pilot that works at Grand Canyon. In my spare time I research and locate historic aircraft accidents. On occasion I have been asked to help locate missing aircraft. I have been following the search for Mr. Radford since the beginning and as a pilot at the Canyon we have also been looking as well. Since the search was officially called off I have been preparing to conduct an independant search for Mr. Radford's missing aircraft. I would like to hear from anyone that might also be continuing to search and that can give me some insight on the disappearence of this pilot and aircraft.

Thank you,
Mike McComb
www.lostflights.com
 
Mike, it would be good to get official facts, radar data, etc so that others could search for him. I had felt that this got minimal effort and far less than Steve Fossett got.
 
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I'll help

Please let me know if I can help in any investigation/search, ground or air. It's a shame how quickly this incident faded from my consiousness. I'd like to do something to help solve the mystery.
 
On behalf of Pilots n Paws, we want everyone to know that Joe was not forgotten.

My friend Liz asked me to post this message because he was so helpful to the cause.

So sad...

:( CJ
 
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