Multi-Asset Search Saves Lives

On Monday, 14 August 2023, the United States Coast Guard and Navy rescued four divers—Ben Wiggins, 64; Luke Lodge, 26; Daniel Williams, 46; and Evan Williams, 16—gone missing some forty-nautical-miles southeast of North Carolina’s Cape Fear. A Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City HC-130 Hercules crew notified Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at 00:45 EDT on the morning of 14 August that they’d spotted an SOS-strobe light, located the four missing divers, and launched a life raft.

Of Sad Stories and Happy Endings

On 13 August 2023, a MiG-23 went down while taking part in the Thunder Over Michigan air-show. Held yearly at Ypsilanti, Michigan’s Willow Run Airport (YIP), Thunder Over Michigan is among the U.S.’s premier air-shows, drawing aircraft from around the wide world. The accident aircraft, a MiG-23UB built in 1981 and imported from the Czech Republic, had been largely restored by and belonged to Dan “Files” Filer, a U.S. Navy combat veteran who flew A-6 Intruders in the Gulf War. A number of years ago, Mr. Filer happened upon a MiG-23 up for sale and pursued purchase of such. While seeking out parts for the jet, he discovered 17 additional MiG-23s (in various states of disrepair) for sale, and p