Civil Air Patrol lost three of its members from Wyoming last week during a search and rescue mission when the CAP Cessna 182 they were flying crashed in the Bighorn Mountains. Killed were: James Henderson, 59, of Cowley, Wyo.; Patricia Larson, 52, of Sheridan, Wyo.; and James Meyer, 53, also of Sheridan. An Aug. 22 CAP release notes that the accident took place Aug. 20 during a search effort for a 16-year-old fishing in the area and reported missing. A Forest Service-contracted aircraft working forest fires in the area spotted the aircraft. CAP is the Air Force Auxiliary that conducts 95 percent of inland SAR missions directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, among other missions, such as disaster relief and homeland security missions.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.