Mishap Aircraft In Dangerous, Difficult Position

The late Bob Ayres and his 1968 Piper Arrow are still on a rock-studded glacier on the side of Mount Shasta. As previously reported in Aero-News, the Bellingham, WA, based pilot and his plane went missing June 18, and were found back on June 20th on the side of the 14,163-foot California peak. Attempts to recover the remains of the pilot and the wreckage of the plane have been unsuccessful.

The aircraft has slid some 1,100 feet lower since it was initially sighted last month at 11,850 feet above sea level. It is in a rockfall zone near the base of the Konwakiton Glacier, and shows signs of having been hit by large boulders. One wing is separated, and the remainder of the craft is upside down.

The weather on the mountain peak has alpine extremes of cold, wind and obscuration. Indeed, SARSATs monitored by the USAF Rescue Coordination Center at Langley AFB received a signal from the mountain on June 18, but the local weather was so bad that the aircraft could not be seen or located for two more days. The aircraft was ultimately found by the Civil Air Patrol, which awarded the Distress Find Ribbon to four CAP officers for their participation in the successful search mission.

The California National Guard refused to try to recover the airplane with one of its large CH-47 Chinook helicopters; with no life at stake, the 35-knot winds, ripping mountain currents, and high temperatures make the mission unreasonably risky.

That leaves the task of airlifting the wreckage and the pilot's remains from the inaccessible location to local authorities and private enterprise. According to media reports, the team of rescuers including the California Highway Patrol, Siskiyou County sheriff's deputies and search and rescue officials, and the private helicopter crew hired by Adams's insurance carrier, have been meeting to try to brainstorm a better, safer plan.

The existing plan is for the CHP to drop a ground team, for the private Super Huey to sling the airplane to a lower altitude where the human remains can be removed, and for the remains and wreckage to take their separate paths from there. A July 22nd attempt was aborted due to high winds and rising temperatures.

The problems facing the recovery team include a continued threat from large falling rocks, the steep terrain, which risks snagging the lift cable or aircraft on jagged overhanging rocks, and the simple fact that Bell's performance charts for the Super Huey only go as high as Bell's testing did: 10,000 feet MSL.

Despite the obstacles, no one is talking about abandoning the attempt yet. Adams's relatives deserve closure, and investigators need to examine the wreckage of his airplane. So the recovery team will try again, perhaps as soon as the end of the week, to bring Adams and his plane back to those who wait.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov