Pilot Fatally Injured When His Aircraft Impacted Terrain

A New Mexico Wing aircrew last Thursday spotted the wreckage of a single-seat glider reported missing early in the morning after departing Moriarty Municipal Airport.

The wreckage was found east of Lamy, 18 miles south of Santa Fe. The pilot didn’t survive the accident.
 
Along with other federal and state agencies and New Mexico search and rescue volunteers, the New Mexico Wing searched areas where the missing glider was thought to have flown. The CAP crew that reported the wreckage was relieved by a second CAP plane, whose crew guided a New Mexico National Guard and other search and rescue teams to the location.
 
The first CAP plane took off at 10 a.m. local time. The aerial search was coordinated with helicopters from the National Guard and U.S. Border Patrol.
 
The aircrew reported its sighting at 12:43 p.m. Searchers on the ground confirmed it as the crash site shortly before 3 p.m.
 
Participating CAP aircrews flew from Albuquerque and Santa Fe, with the overall search effort coordinated from a command post near Lamy.
 
CAP cell phone forensics and radar analysis teams reduced the search area, allowing searchers to better focus their efforts. The time of departure and last known position was calculated and plotted using tools CAP developed, then relayed to the local search and rescue teams.
 
"CAP ground and air crews worked in close conjunction with other agencies to complete this search. This is a tragic loss of a highly experienced competition glider pilot," said Lt. Col. Larry Zentner, CAP incident commander for the mission. "We train routinely for such searches, and appreciate the dedication of all SAR volunteers who respond to these missions on short notice.”

(CAP Image)

FMI: www.gocivilairpatrol.com