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Winston-Salem Aircraft Moved to Northeast Disaster Area

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Aircrew will continue Aerial Photography Missions

By Major Don Penven
MC Wing PAO

11/6/2012–Burlington, NC–  

 

NORTH CAROLINA WING

CIVIL AIR PATROL

U.S. AIR FORCE AUXILIARY

 

Contact:           Major Don Penven

                        Cell: 919-215-6860

                        Email: donpenven@gmail.com

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 6, 2012

NC Wing Continues Support of Hurricane Sandy Operations in North East Region

Second Aircraft from Winston-Salem Sent to FEMA Rendezvous Point in Delaware

 

Burlington, NC – The NC Wing, CAP, has dispatched a second aircraft and crew to the staging area at Wilmington, DE, for aerial photography missions as part of FEMA’s disaster relief efforts. NC Wing Commander, Col. David E. Crawford said today that the first aircraft committed to this effort on Sunday, Nov. 4, returned to its Asheville base yesterday after completing sorties at Port Elizabeth, NJ and in the Philadelphia area. “This aircrew, consisting of Lt. Col. Wally Courtney, Maj. Arnie Andresen and Capt. Rheta Perkins, provided more than 1500 high resolution, GPS integrated photos to FEMA officials,” Crawford said.

“A combined aircrew from Winston-Salem, Burlington and Halifax Co. (Lt. Col. Bill Hawke, Capt. Chuck Dawson, Capt. Fred Draper) are deploying today to Wilmington, Delaware to continue flying photo imagery sorties,” Crawford said.

The National Weather Service has alerted interests along the eastern seaboard that a Nor’Easter is forming off the South Carolina coast and is forecast to track along the coastline from North Carolina to New England bringing heavy rain and high winds to the already devastated areas.

“The NC Wing remains on standby alert as this storm will most-probably initiate additional calls for assistance,” Crawford said,

Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 54 lives in fiscal year 2011. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to nearly 27,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet program. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 70 years. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com, www.capvolunteernow.com or www.ncwg.cap.gov for more information.