Sun, Oct 18, 2009
Guard Called in for 'Balloon Boy Rescue'
Talk about your wild balloon chase... The Colorado Army National
Guard joined rescue efforts for a 6-year-old boy believed adrift in
a homemade hot air balloon Thursday. Colorado citizen-soldiers used
UH-60 Black Hawk and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters to provide military
assistance to civilian authorities who believed Falcon Heene was
inside a silver Mylar balloon adrift over the northern Colorado
plains, according to National Guard Bureau officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration and sheriff's deputies were
told that the experimental helium hot air balloon broke free from
its tethers at the Heenes' home in Fort Collins with the boy
inside. The Colorado National Guard's Joint Operations Center
responded to an Air Force Rescue Coordination Center request for
assistance to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office, Colorado
National Guard officials said.
The Black Hawk, which had rescue capabilities in the event that
an airborne rescue was required, carried observers and medical
personnel, 1st Air Force officials reported. The Colorado National
Guard stood down from the mission after local authorities
determined that the boy was safe in his home.
Growing evidence reported in a number of media circles now
suggest that the balloon hoax was a specific attempt to garner
media attention in order to gather PR for other media aspirations.
The cost of the rescue operation and the possible risk to armed
service and government personnel has yet to be quantified.
Located under 1st Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base in
Florida, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center is the agency
responsible for coordinating on-land federal search and rescue
activities in the 48 contiguous United States, Mexico and Canada.
It directly ties to the FAA's alerting system. [ANN thanks Army
Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill, of the American Forces Press Service for
info contained in this article].
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