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.
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